UmAA 


V.in',i 


THE    JEWISH    TEMPLE 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 


THE    JEWISH    TEMPLE 


AND 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH 


A  SERIES  OF  DISCOURSES  ON   THE   EPISTLE  TO  THE 
HEBREWS. 


/^ 


R.    W.    DALE,    M.A. 


GOULD     AND     LINCOLN, 
59  WASitiNGTON  Street. 

1871. 


PREFACE    TO    SECOND    EDITION. 

These  Discourses  were  delivered  several  years  ago  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  my  ministry. 

The  Notes  which  I  have  added  to  this  new  Edition  are 
intended,  like  the  Discourses  themselves,  not  for  scholars,  but 
for  ordinary  Christian  people  to  whom  learned  commentaries 
are  inaccessible  or  useless.  I  have  not  attempted  either  to 
correct  every  word  or  phrase  which  seemed  to  me  inaccurately 
translated  in  our  English  Authorised  Version,  nor  to  discuss 
the  conflicting  interpretations  wliicli  exegetiral  scholars  ha^•e 
given  of  difficult  passages. 

R.  W.   D. 

C/iris/ma.'!,   1870, 


CONTENTS. 

PACE 

Introductory 

I 

The  Son  and  the  Prophets 

II 

The  Son  and  the  Angels   ... 

23 

Drifting  from  Christ 

...        34 

The  Dignity  of  Man 

...       43 

Christ  Perfected  through  Sufferings 

•••       57 

The  Humanity  of  Christ   ... 

...       66 

The  Sin  in  the  Wilderness 

74 

The  Rest  of  God 

...       81 

The  Sympathy  of  Christ    ... 

...       88 

The  Priesthood  of  Christ  ... 

...       97 

Ignorance  and  Apostasy    ... 

109 

Hopefulness       ... 

...      124 

Melchizedek 

...      136 

AVhat  is  a  Type  ? 

•••      153 

The  New  Covenant 

...      163 

The  Old  Sanctuarj' 

...      172 

Jewish  Sacrifices 

...     186 

Access  to  God 

...     205 

The  Testament 

...     215 

Contents. 


Vlll 


PAGE 

Atonement 

221 

The  Great  Appeal 

...       231 

The  Cloud  of  Witnesses    ... 

...       242 

Chastisement 

-       255 

Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion 

264 

Precepts 

...       276 

Conclusion 

...       286 

Notes 

...       293 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  a  letter  with  no  Signature 
and  with  no  Direction.  The  title,  as  it  stands  in  our  English 
Bible,  is  no  part  of  the  original  document ;  and  the  two  ques- 
tions, By  whom  was  it  written  ?  and  To  whom  was  it  addressed  ? 
have  given  rise  to  intricate  and  protracted  controversies. 

One  scholar  maintains  that  it  was  written  to  the  Churches  of 
Galatia ;  another,  that  it  was  Avritten  to  the  Church  at  Thessa- 
lonica ;  another,  that  it  was  written  to  the  Church  at  Corinth ; 
another,  that  it  was  written  to  the  Church  at  Rome ;  another, 
that  it  was  written  to  a  Church  in  Spain ;  another,  that  it  was 
written  to  Jewish  Christians  scattered  over  Asia  Minor;  while 
the  common,  and,  as  I  believe,  the  true  opinion,  the  grounds 
of  which  I  shall  adduce  presently,  is  that  it  was  written  to 
Jewish  Christians  living  in  Palestine. 

The  question  of  the  authorship  is  more  perplexing  still.  Did 
St.  Paul  write  the  Epistle  as  it  stands,  or  did  he  write  it  in 
Hebrew  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  beloved  compa- 
nions for  translation?  Or  did  he  supply  the  thoughts  and 
leave  his  friend  to  cast  them  into  what  fonii  he  thought  best  ? 
Or  shall  we  believe,  with  Tertullian,  that  Barnabas  was  the 
author  ?  Or,  with  some  of  the  early  Latin  Churches,  that  the 
Epistle  was  written  by  Clement  of  Rome  ?  Or,  with  Lutlier 
and  a  long  line  of  German  scholars,  that  it  was  written  by 
Apollos?  Or  shall  we  concede  the  honour  to  Aquila,  who 
taught  Apollos  himself  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly  ?  Or  to 
Silas,  St.  Paul's  companion  in  work  and  suffering  ? 

The  discussion  of  the  claims  of  all  these  various  hypotheses 
could  hardly  be  rendered  intelligible  to  a  popular  audience. 
What  I  propose  to  do,  before  beginning  to  expound  the 
contents  of  the  Epistle,  is  to  state  as  briefly  and  simply  as 

B 


2  Introductory. 

possible,  the  evidence  for  and  against  the  Pauline  authorship, 
and  then,  the  evidence,  conclusive  evidence,  as  I  think,  for 
believing  that  the  Epistle  was  addressed  to  Christian  Jews  in 
Palestine. 

I. 

On  the  question  of  the  Pauline  authorship,  I  shall  not  quote 
the  passages  which  preserve  to  us  the  testimonies  and  opinions 
of  the  ancient  Fathers,  but  shall  indicate  how  the  evidence 
seems  to  lie. 

(i.)  In  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  which  was  early  famous 
for  its  scholars  and  grammarians,  we  have  the  express  testimony 
of  Pantoenus,  about  the  year  i8o,  in  favour  of  St.  Paul.  A  few 
years  later,  we  have  the  testimony  of  Clement  to  the  same 
effect,  though  he  believed  that  Paul  wrote  ni  Hebrew,  and  that 
Luke  translated  what  he  had  Avritten  into  Greek.  A  few  years 
later  still,  Origen  seems  to  say  that  the  thoughts  were  St.  Paul's, 
but  that  the  form  and  language  of  the  Epistle  were  from  another 
hand  :  and  he  tells  us  that  a  tradition  existed  in  the  Alexandrian 
Church  that  Clement  of  Rome  or  Luke  the  Evangelist  was  the 
actual  author. 

(2.)  In  the  Eastern  Church  we  have  no  testimony  to  the 
authorship  earlier  than  the  middle  of  the  third  century.  Paul 
of  Samosata,  Bishop  of  Antioch  in  264;  Methodius,  Bishop  of 
Olympus  inXycia,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of  Tyre  about  290; 
and  Archelaus,  Bishop  of  Mesopotamia  a  few  years  later,  ascribe 
the  Epistle  to  St.  Paul.  But  the  most  important  testimony  is 
that  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Csesarea  at  the  commencement  of 
the  fourth  century.  From  his  ^\Titings  it  appears  that  in  the 
East  the  all  but  universal  opinion  was  in  favour  of  the  Pauline 
authorship,  which  he  accepted  himself,  though  he  thought  that 
St.  Paul  wTote  in  Hebrew  and  that  probably  Clement  of  Rome 
translated  the  Epistle  into  Greek. 

In  Alexandria,  then,  and  throughout  the  East,  St.  Paul  was 
regarded  in  the  earliest  times  as  the  real  author,  although 
certain  peculiarities  in  the  style  suggested  to  scholars  and 
grammarians  the  hypothesis  that  some  other  hand  composed 
the  Epistle  as  it  stands,  translating  it  from  Hebrew  into  Greek, 
or  even  expanding  and  modifying  its  original  contents. 


Introductory.  3 

(3.)  In  the  Western  Church  the  evidence  is  of  a  very  difter- 
ent  complexion.  Photius  (a.d.  858)  quotes  the  authority  of 
Stephen  Gobar,  a  writer  belonging  to  the  sixth  century,  to  the 
effect  that  Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  at  the  close  of  the 
second  century,  and  Hippolytus,  one  of  his  pupils,  did  not 
acknowledge  the  Pauline  authorship.  In  Carthage,  Tertullian, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  cites  the  Epistle  as  the 
work  of  Barnabas,  and  his  manner  proves  that  this  was  the 
common  opinion. 

■  Caius,  a  Roman  presbyter  belonging  to  the  early  part  of  the 
third  century,  did  not  include  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
among  the  Avritings  of  St.  Paul.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage 
in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  appears  to  be  fairly 
appealed  to  on  the  same  side.  The  testimony  of  Jerome  early 
in  the  fifth  century,  and  the  testimony  of  Augustine  about  the 
same  time,  indicate  that  even  then  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
had  not,  in  the  Latin  Church,  secured  a  firm  place  among  St. 
Paul's  acknowledged  writings. 

If,  as  I  think  is  practically  certain,  the  Epistle  was  addressed 
to  Jewish  Christians  in  Palestine,  the  Western  Churches  might 
very  naturally  be  ill-informed  concerning  its  authorship  ;  and 
the  testimony  of  Alexandria  and  of  the  East  would,  in  my 
judgment,  outweigh  the  testimony  of  Rome  and  Carthage.  It 
is  also,  I  think,  very  probable  that  the  Roman  Church,  whose 
influence  would  determine  the  general  opinion  of  the  West, 
may  have  hesitated  to  acknowledge  that  the  Epistle  was 
written  by  St.  Paul,  on  account  of  the  striking  contrast  between 
its  doctrinal  teaching  and  the  teaching  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  In  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  Romans  the  power  of 
Divine  grace  is  maintained  with  a  resoluteness  of  conviction 
and  an  exultation  of  feeling  unparalleled  in  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.  The  steadfastness  of  God's  love,  the  immovable- 
ness  of  his  purpose  to  save  all  that  believe,  the  victorious 
energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  so  exhibited,  that  to  fall  away 
from  Christ  seems  impossible ;  it  appears  inconceivable  that 
the  links  of  the  golden  chain  of  divine  calling,  justification,  and 
final  glory  should  ever  be  broken.  God's  idea  in  relation  to  all 
that  trust  in  Christ  is  presented   in   the  simplest  and   most 


4  Introductory, 

absolute  form;  life  and  death,  angels,  principalities,  and 
powers,  things  present,  things  to  come,  height,  depth,  and  the 
whole  creation,  are  defied  to  separate  the  soul  of  the  true 
Christian  from  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the  other  and  human  side  of  the 
truth  is  presented.  Tribulation,  distress,  persecution,  had 
come  upon  the  Jewish  Churches,  and  courage  was  failing,  faith 
was  vacillating ;  they  are  warned  of  the  possibility  of  drifting 
away  from  what  they  had  heard  and  believed  in  former  days, 
and  are  threatened  with  certain  judgment  and  fiery  indignation 
if  they  are  guilty  of  apostasy.  Nor,  as  far  as  I  have  noticed,  is 
there  any  hint  or  trace  throughout  the  Epistle  of  those  exalted 
views  of  the  constraining  power  of  Divine  grace  which  are  so 
prominent  in  the  acknowledged  writings  of  St.  Paul,  and  which 
were  partly  the  result  of  the  peculiarities  of  his  own  conversion 
and  his  sublimely  vigorous  spiritual  life.  There  is  no  real 
contradiction  between  the  two  Epistles,  but  it  was  very  natural 
for  the  Christians  of  Rome,  if  they  were  ill-informed  about 
the  authorship  of  the  Epistle  of  the  Hebrews,  to  hesitate  in 
believing  that  it  was  written  by  the  Apostle  who  had  written 
to  themselves. 

These  two  considerations — the  distance  of  Rome  from 
Palestine,  and  the  doctrinal  contents  of  the  Epistle — would 
lead  me  to  estimate  very  lightly  the  testimony  of  the  Roman 
Church  against  the  Pauline  authorship,  and  to  accept  the 
favourable  testimony  of  Alexandria  and  the  East,  but  .for  one 
remarkable  fact.  Clement  of  Rome,  at  the  close  of  the 
first  century,  in  his  well-known  Epistle  to  the  Church 
at  Corinth,  quotes  repeatedly  from  this  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
though  without  naming  the  author ;  it  seems  to  me  extremely 
improbable  that  if  St.  Paul  really  wrote  it,  Clement  should 
have  been  ignorant  of  the  fact ;  and  if  Clement  believed  it  to 
be  St.  Paul's,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  adverse 
opinion  rose  up  and  became  so  strong  in  the  Church  of  which 
he  was  the  bishop.  The  external  evidence,  therefore,  leaves 
the  whole  question  of  the  authorship  in  doubt. 

The  evidence  arising  from  the  style  and  from  peculiarities  of 
expression  is  equally  inconclusive.     One  of  the  opponents  of 


Introductory.  5 

the  Pauline  authorship  has  diligently  collected  between  one 
hundred  and  ten  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  words  which 
occur  in  this  Epistle,  and  are  not  found  in  any  of  St.  Paul's 
acknowledged  writings.  A  scholar  on  the  other  side,  to  cancel 
the  force  of  this  argument,  has,  with  equal  diligence,  collected 
from  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  which  everybody 
acknowledges  to  be  St.  Paul's,  two  hundred  and  thirty  words 
which  are  not  found  in  any  other  of  his  epistles.  A  list  of 
words  is  given  on  the  one  side,  which  are  used  in  this  Epistle 
in  a  sense  in  which  Paul  never  uses  them  :  another  list  is  given 
on  the  other  side,  of  words  which  occur  nowhere  in  the  New- 
Testament  except  in  this  Epistle  and  in  the  acknowledged 
writings  of  St.  Paul,  or  which,  if  used  by  other  New  Testament 
wTiters,  are  used  in  a  different  sense.  The  internal  evidence 
of  this  kind  is  as  unsatisfactory  as  the  evidence  derived  from 
external  sources. 

I  believe  that  the  only  conclusion  possible  is,  that  the 
materials  for  determining  the  question  have  disappeared,  and 
that  the  authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  must  remain 
uncertain.  There  is  no  adequate  evidence  that  St.  Paul  wrote 
it,  and  the  evidence  for  any  other  name  is  still  less  satisfactory. 
The  claim  on  behalf  of  Apollos  was  never  made,  I  think,  till 
it  was  suggested  by  Luther ;  and  the  arguments  by  which  it  is 
supported  seem  to  me  of  the  flimsiest  character. 

11. 

That  the  Epistle  was  addressed  to  the  Christians  of  a 
particular  church,  or  at  least  to  those  living  in  a  particular 
country,  and  not  to  Christians  generally,  is  proved  by  the 
solitary  passage  in  xiii.  23:  "Know  ye  that  our  brother 
Timothy  is  set  at  liberty ;  with  whom,  if  he  come  shortly,  I 
will  see  you."  That  it  was  addressed  to  Jewish  converts  only, 
is  proved  by  the  general  contents  of  the  Epistle.  That  it  was 
addressed  to  Jewish  converts  in  Palestine  is  proved  by  the 
fact  implied  throughout,  that  the  persons  for  whom  it  was 
intended  were  under  the  immediate  and  powerful  influence 
of  the  ritual  worship  still  maintained  in  the  Temple.  St.  Paul 
was  engaged  in  incessant  controversies  with  Jewish  teachers 


6  Introductory. 

scattered  over  the  Roman  world.  But  with  them,  whether  we 
derive  our  information  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  or  from 
his  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  Corinthians,  Galatians,  or  Colos- 
sians,  the  subjects  of  dispute  were  the  permanence  and 
universal  obligation  of  circumcision  and  of  the  laws  relating  to 
food  and  the  like  :  not  a  word  is  ever  said  about  the  priesthood 
or  the  sacrifices.  The  Jewish  converts  in  distant  countries, 
who  were  seldom  able  to  be  present  at  the  Temple,  were  in  no 
danger  of  having  their  imagination  fired,  and  their  sympathies 
entangled,  by  the  pomp  and  mystery  of  the  ceremonial  worship. 
But  the  persons  to  whom  this  Epistle  was  written  were 
evidently  in  a  very  different  position  :  the  ancient  system  of 
Avorship  retained  a  powerful  hold  upon  them ;  and  this  can  be 
accounted  for  only  by  supposing  that  they  were  actually  living 
in  Palestine,  and  were  the  constant  or  frequent  witnesses  of  the 
ancient  rites.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Jewish  element  so  predominated  in  any  church  out  of  Palestine 
as  to  account  for  an  Epistle  like  this  being  addressed  to  it. 

The  only  other  hypothesis  which  has  any  show  of  probability 
is  that  the  Epistle  was  addressed  to  the  Church  at  Alexandria. 
In  that  city  there  had  existed  for  three  centuries  a  powerful 
Jewish  colony ;  and  a  Jewish  temple  was  built  at  Leontopolis 
(b.c.  i6i).  It  is  alleged  on  behalf  of  the  claims  of  Alexandria 
as  against  those  of  Palestine — 

(i)  That  the  arguments  of  the  Epistle  pre-suppose  a  power 
in  its  readers  to  appreciate  the  spiritualising  and  allegorical 
method  of  interpreting  the  Old  Testament  which  distinguished 
the  Alexandrian  school  of  Jewish  theologians. 

To  this  it  may  be  replied  that  no  such  peculiarity  in  the 
method  of  treating  the  Old  Testament  can  be  pointed  out  in 
this  Epistle  as  to  render  it  necessary  to  suppose  that  its  original 
readers  had  received  Alexandrian  culture.  There  is  less  of 
"  allegory  "  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  than  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians. 

(2)  That,  had  it  been  written  to  Jews  in  Palestine  {a)  the 
Old  Testament  quotations  would  have  been  made  from  the 
Hebrew  text,  not  from  the  Septuagint;  and  {b)  the  Epistle 
itself  would  not  have  been  Avritten  in  Greek. 


Introductory.  7 

But  in  reply  to  (/;),  it  may  be  urged  that  Hellenistic  Greek 
was  commonly  understood  in  Palestine  itself  and  throughout 
Western  Asia ;  and  that — as  the  Epistle  was  no  doubt  intended 
for  the  instruction  of  the  Jews  generally,  though  addressed  in 
the  first  instance  to  the  Jewish  Christians  of  a  particular  city 
or  country — Hellenistic  Greek  was  the  fittest  language  to  WTite 
it  in.  The  other  argument  (a)  is  of  no  weight,  inasmuch  as  the 
Palestinian  Jews  themselves  admitted  the  divine  authority  of 
the  Septuagint  version. 

If  the  Epistle  was  addressed  to  one  of  the  churches  of  Pales- 
tine, the  troubles  which  came  upon  that  country  at  the  close  of 
the  first  century,  quite  account  for  the  fact  that  the  tradition  of 
the  authorship  has  been  lost,  and  that  we  have  to  determine 
who  its  original  readers  were,  mainly  by  internal  evidence ;  but 
had  it  been  addressed  to  the  Church  at  Alexandria,  it  is  hard 
to  understand  how  any  uncertainty  could  have  arisen  on  either 
of  these  points.  Surely,  if  it  had  been  sent  originally  to  their 
own  church,  the  Alexandrian  fathers  would  have  found  some 
trace  of  the  fact,  but  they  make  no  claim.  The  opinion  that 
the  Epistle  was  \-\Tritten  for  the  special  benefit  of  Jewish  Christians 
in  Palestine  was  "  held,"  says  Dr.  Davidson,  "  by  most  of  the 
fathers,  as  far  as  we  have  the  means  of  enabling  us  to  form  a 
judgment  respecting  their  views  of  the  point ;  by  the  Alexandrian 
theologians,  by  Eusebius,  Jerome,  Chrysostom,  Theodoret, 
Theophylact,  and  others."  '•' 

IH. 

On  the  question  whether  the  Epistle  has  a  right  to  a  place 
among  our  canonical  Scriptures  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  much. 
It  is  quoted  by  Clement  of  Rome  at  the  close  of  the  first 
century,  just  as  he  quotes  the  other  canonical  writings — by 
Justin  Martyr  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century — and  by  the 
theologians  of  the  Alexandrian  Church  : — it  has  a  place  in  the 
ancient  Latin  and  Syriac  versions  of  the  New  Testament,  made 
at  the  close  of  the  second  century;  by  the  Churches  of  the 
East  it  was  regarded  not  only  as  authoritative,  but  as  written 

*  Davidson's  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  Vol.  iii.,  267. 


8  hitrodtictory. 

by  St.  Paul.  Whether  an  Apostle  was  the  author  of  it  or  not, 
it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  it  would  have  attained  this  wide 
and  early  recognition,  had  there  not  been  sufficient  reason  for 
believing  that  it  was  sanctioned  by  Apostolic  authority. 

Erasmus,  Luther,  Calvin,  denied  the  Pauline  authorship,  and 
for  a  time  some  Lutheran  divines  placed  this  Epistle  with  other 
books  about  whose  authority  there  has  been  controversy,  by 
themselves  at  the  close  of  the  New  Testament ;  but  the  dis- 
tinction soon  disappeared,  and  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
Churches,  as  well  as  the  Church  of  Rome,  unite  in  acknowledg- 
ing its  canonicity. 

That  it  was  \vritten  in  Greek,  not  Hebrew,  hardly  admits  of 
dispute. 

Try  now  to  blot  out  from  your  memory  the  last  eighteen 
hundred  years  of  Christian  and  general  history.  Nero  is 
Emperor  of  Rome,  and  the  hatred  of  the  Jewish  nation  for 
their  foreign  rulers  is  becoming  every  day  more .  intense. 
Already  there  are  signs  of  a  fierce  and  bloody  revolt.  The 
magnificent  prophecies  of  ancient  days,  the  history  of  the 
splendid  miracles  which  had  been  wrought  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  people  from  their  wretched  and  shameful  bondage  in 
Eg}q3t,  the  thrilling  and  heroic  war  songs  of  David,  and  the 
story  of  the  patriotic  achievements  of  the  Maccabees,  are 
kindling  to  a  furious  and  fanatical  heat  the  passion  for  in- 
dependence. Priests  and  politicians  are  plotting  against  the 
Roman  government ;  and  the  dark,  turbulent  life  of  the  whole 
people  is  sweeping  forward  with  fierce  impatience  to  the  final 
tragedy  of  tears  and  blood,  bafiled  rage  and  ghastly  horrors, 
demoniacal  courage  and  demoniacal  sufferings— in  which  the 
crimes  and  chastisements  of  this  wonderful  race  closed  and 
culminated.  At  such  a  time  the  Nazarene  heresy  is  an  offence 
not  only  against  the  religion  but  against  the  patriotism  of  the 
nation.  It  divides  the  national  strength.  The  Christian 
teachers  hold  back  their  followers  from  the  current  of  revolu  - 
tion,  and  have  told  them  to  resort  to  flight  whenever  the 
armies  of  the  heathen  threaten  the  holy  city.  This  intolerable 
treachery  to  the  national  cause  has  deepened  the  abhorrence 


Introductory.  9 

with  which  the  whole  sect  is  regarded.  Many  who  have  been 
baptized  into  the  name  of  Christ  and  have  taken  joyfully  the 
spoiling  of  their  goods  for  his  sake,  are  beginning  to  falter. 
They  have  continued  to  unite  in  the  worship  of  the  Temple, 
and  cannot  endure  to  think  of  its  ancient  ritual  being  over- 
thrown ;  they  exult  in  the  memory  of  the  brief  bursts  of  glory 
which  have  shed  a  transient  brightness  on  their  national  history, 
and  their  hearts  burn  to  unite  with  their  fellow-countrymen  in 
one  last  and  desperate  struggle  against  the  heathen  oppressor. 

Imagine  yourselves,  if  you  can,  agitated  by  these  passions. 
Let  us  suppose  that  we  are  a  church  of  Jewish  believers, 
assembled  in  Jerusalem  or  in  Caesarea,  between  twenty-five  and 
thirty  years  after  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
meeting  is  unusually  large  :  some  are  present  who  have  almost 
forsaken  the  assemblies  of  the  Church ; — for  it  is  known  that  a 
letter  to  the  Christian  Jews  on  their  present  dangers  and  duties 
was  received  by  one  of  the  elders  of  the  Church  a  few  days 
ago,  and  something  will  be  said  about  it  to-night.  We  have 
celebrated,  as  is  our  custom  whenever  we  meet  for  worship,  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord.  One  of  the  elders  rises — and  I  can 
imagine  him  speaking  in  such  words  as  these  : — 

"  My  beloved  brethren,  children  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and  disciples  of  our  Lord  Jesus, — During  the  past  week 
a  brother,  who  has  come  from  one  of  the  countries  of  the 
Gentiles  to  visit  the  land  which  God  gave  to  our  fathers, 
brought  to  me  this  letter,  -written  by  one  whom  we  know  w^ell 
and  hold  in  honour  for  his  faith,  and  suffering  and  labour — a 
man  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  enriched  with  all  knowledge 
and  wisdom.  The  letter  is  meant  for  us — who  are  of  the  seed 
of  Jacob,  but  who  have  believed  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the 
true  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  King  of  Israel.  Our 
brother  who  writes  it,  has  been  sorely  troubled  by  what  he  has 
heard  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  this  land.  He  writes  to 
warn  us  of  the  guilt  and  peril  of  permitting  ourselves  to  be 
carried  back  to  the  bondage  of  our  old  law,  and  he  explains 
with  wonderful  depth  the  true  purpose  of  the  ordinances  which 
God  gave  to  our  fathers. 

"  The  letter  is  too  long,  my  brethren,  to  be  read  through  to- 


10  Introductory. 

night ;  but  I  will  tell  you  the  substance  of  what  it  says,  and 
will  read  a  few  passages,  that  you  may  be  able  to  see  with  what 
anxiety  and  with  what  wisdom  our  holy  brother,  who,  like 
ourselves,  is  of  the  stock  of  Abraham,  pleads  with  us  and  with 
all  our  brethren.  Already,  some  of  our  best  scribes  have 
begun  to  copy  it,  and  in  a  few  days  we  shall  be  able  to  send 
copies  to  all  the  churches  of  the  saints  in  Galilee,  Samaria,  and 
Judea.  We  ourselves  shall  retain  the  handwTiting  of  our 
brother,  and  in  future  meetings  of  the  Church  we  shall  care- 
fully read  the  Epistle,  and  confer  with  each  other  about  it. 
But  we  shall  be  able  to  understand  it  better  if  I  tell  you  now 
what  are  the  chief  subjects  of  which  it  treats,  and  the  manner 
in  which  they  are  treated." 

If  we  begin  our  study  of  the  Epistle  by  constructing  for 
ourselves  such  an  outline  of  its  contents  as  might  have  followed 
this  introduction,  and  imagining  the  impression  produced  by 
one  argument  and  appeal  after  another,  upon  the  Jewish 
believers  who  listened  to  them  for  the  first  time,  we  shall  be  far 
more  likely  to  arrive  at  the  true  meaning  of  the  inspired  writer, 
than  if  we  satisfy  ourselves  with  reading  isolated  passages — no 
matter  how  carefully — in  the  light  of  the  circumstances  and 
experiences  of  modern  times.  In  the  Sermons  on  the  Epistle 
which  I  am  about  to  deliver,  it  will  be  my  endeavour,  first  of 
all,  to  assist  you  to  place  yourselves  in  the  actual  position  of 
the  persons  to  v/hom  the  Epistle  was  originally  addressed ;  and 
then  to  point  out  and  illustrate  the  relation  of  what  was  said  to 
them,  to  the  temptations  and  controversies  by  which  christian 
people  are  being  tried  and  disciplined  in  our  own  days. 


THE   SON   AND   THE    PROPHETS. 

"  God  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  time  past  unto  the 
fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  to  us  by  His  Son," 
&c. — Hebrews  i,  1-3. 

In  entering  upon  the  study  of  this  Epistle,  it  is  necessary  to 
remember  that  the  position  of  a  Christian  Jew  in  ApostoHc 
times  was  very  different  from  that  of  a  Christian  Gentile.  If, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  Jewish  Christian  derived  great  advantages 
from  his  possession  of  the  ancient  revelation,  and  from  the 
discipline  he  had  received  under  the  Mosaic  Law,  on  the  other, 
he  had  difficulties  of  which  the  Gentile  knew  nothing.  The 
converted  heathen  was  never  likely  to  sink  back  into  heathen- 
ism. He  might  find  it  hard  to  overcome  his  old  habits  of 
falsehood,  dishonesty,  violence,  and  impurity,  and  might 
sometimes  be  almost  ready  to  abandon  the  struggle  from  mere 
Aveariness  and  exhaustion ;  but  he  had  discovered,  once  for  all, 
that  the  popular  mythology  was  a  collection  of  wild  and  wicked 
fancies,  that  the  gods  he  used  to  worship  were  idols,  that  their 
priests  had  no  divine  consecration,  and  that  their  temples  were 
the  homes  of  imposture,  covetousness,  and  vice.  Nothing  but 
cowardice,  moral  weakness,  or  a  longing  for  the  sensual  excite- 
ment of  heathenism  could  ever  make  him  a  heathen  again. 

It  was  not  so  with  the  Christian  Jew.  The  new  faith  did 
not  contradict,  but  developed  and  perfected  the  old.  He  had 
not  to  separate  himself  from  the  religious  observances  of  his 
countrymen,  or  to  renounce  his  former  religious  convictions  as 
monstrous  delusions.  He  continued  to  worship  in  the  temple 
and  to  listen  to  the  law  and  the  prophets  in  the  synagogue. 
He  still  believed  that  the  sons  of  Aaron  were  priests  by  divine 
appointment,  and  that  the  sacrifices  they   offered   had   been 


12  The  Son  and  the  Pi-ophets. 

instituted  by  divine  command.  The  Jewish  sabbath  was  still 
honoured  as  a  memorial  of  the  rest  of  God  after  the  creation 
of  the  world.  Jewish  feasts  perpetuated  the  remembrance  of 
wonderful  deeds  which  God  had  wrought  in  the  old  times. 
Prophets  and  Psalmists  were  still  acknoAvledged  to  have  been 
divinely  inspired  men,  and  for  many  years  their  ^^Titings  were 
the  only  Scriptures  the  church  possessed.  Christ  Himself  was 
a  descendant  of  Abraham  ;  He  had  been  circumcised  ;  had 
kept  the  sabbath  ;  had  come  to  Jerusalem  to  celebrate  the 
feasts ;  some  of  the  very  men  to  whom  this  Epistle  was  written 
could  remember  His  form  among  the  crowds  of  worshippers  in 
the  temple;  He  had  eaten  the  Passover  with  His  disciples 
immediately  before  the  crucifixion.  The  Holy  Spirit  had 
descended  on  the  Church  during  a  great  Jewish  Festival.  Nor 
had  any  command  been  given  by  Christ,  nor  any  revelation 
made  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  the  Mosaic  institutions  were  to 
be  abandoned.  Why  should  they  be  abandoned  ?  A  system 
of  religious  observances,  instituted  by  God,  which  had  lasted 
for  sixteen  centuries,  and  had  ministered  to  the  holiness,  and 
had  expressed  the  devotion  of  David,  and  Samuel,  and  Elijah, 
and  Isaiah,  and  Daniel,  was  surely  intrinsically  good  and  noble. 

It  was  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  as  the  enthusiastic 
patriotism  of  the  Jewish  nation  increased  in  violence,  and  the 
growing  hatred  of  their  heathen  rulers  came  to  be  associated 
with  a  growing  hatred  of  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
who  divided  and  diminished  the  national  strength, — it  was  not 
wonderful,  I  say,  that  the  Jewish  Christians  were  dismayed  at 
the  prospect  of  being  excluded  by  their  unconverted  countrymen 
from  the  temple  they  so  dearly  loved,  that  they  gradually  began 
to  drift  back  to  Judaism,  that  their  passionate  love  of  their 
country  and  of  its  magnificent  traditions,  began  to  overpower 
their  loyalty  to  their  crucified  King.  It  was  to  tell  them  of 
these  dangers,  to  show  them  that  they  were  on  the  very  edge  of 
apostasy,  to  warn  them  of  the  dreadful  penalties  they  would 
incur  by  renouncing  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  this 
Epistle  was  written. 

There  was  another  object  which  the  Epistle  was  intended  to 
accomplish.     The  final  overthrow  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 


TJic  Son  and  the  Prophets.  13 

polity  of  Judaism  was  fast  approaching,  and  the  Jewish  Christians 
who  ckmg  to  it  as  a  divine  institution — which  it  was, — and  who 
thought  it  was  intended  to  be  permanent — which  it  was  not, — 
were  hkely  to  be  perplexed  and  confounded  by  the  great 
catastrophe.  They  are  here  instructed  in  the  imperfect  character 
and  transitory  purpose  of  the  whole  system,  and  are  prepared 
for  the  shock  of  seeing  all  their  ancient  institutions  overthro\\Ti. 
The  Epistle  is  a  doctrinal  exposition,  written  not  for  a  scientific 
but  for  a  practical  purpose,  of  the  relations  between  the  Old 
Faith  and  the  New,  between  the  Jewish  Temple  and  the 
Christian  Church. 

We  may  be  strengthened  in  our  own  fidelity  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  by  the  exhortations  contained  in  this  Epistle  to  patient 
continuance  in  well-doing ;  and  the  study  of  the  relations 
between  Christianity  and  Judaism  may  increase  our  knowledge 
of  both. 

I. 

Both  Jew  and  Christian  acknowledged  that  God  spake  in 
time  past  to  the  fathers  by — or  in — the  prophets  ;  but  the  writer, 
without  developing  a  formal  contrast,  suggests  several  important 
points  of  difference  between  the  earlier  revelation  of  God  and 
that  which  had  been  made  when  the  old  dispensation  was 
coming  to  a  close. 

(i)  The  earlier  revelation  was  given  in  "fragments,"  the 
expression  '■'■  sundry  times"  referring  not  to  the  successive  ages 
over  which  the  ancient  revelation  was  spread,  but  to  the 
numerous  portions  into  which  it  was  broken  up.  IVIoses,  David, 
Isaiah,  received  only  partial  and  imperfect  disclosures  of  the 
divine  will ;  one  aspect  of  truth  was  made  known  through  one 
i:)rophet,  another  through  another.  But  in  Christ  dwelt  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  He  was  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh.  In  Him  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge. The  teaching  of  the  Apostles  does  but  illustrate  the 
glory  of  Christ's  character,  the  dignity  of  His  person,  the 
purpose  and  the  results  of  His  mission.  He  that  hath  seen 
Christ  hath  seen  the  Father. 

(2)    The   variety   of  the   forms   by   which  God  had  made 


14  TJie  Son  and  the  P^'opJiets. 

Himself  known  in  past  times  indicated  that  by  none  of  them 
could  He  fully  reveal  Himself  He  spake  to  the  fathers 
'■'■in  divers  mamiers'" — to  Samuel  in  a  voice  which  came  to  him 
while  he  slept ;  to  Elijah  by  a  strong  wind  which  rent  the 
mountains,  and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks  before  the  Lord,  by 
an  earthquake,  by  fire,  by  a  still  small  voice ;  to  Isaiah  by  a 
glorious  vision,  in  which  the  prophet  saw  the  Seraphim 
bowing  before  the  Throne,  and  heard  them  crying,  "  Holy, 
Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  of  Hosts."  These  voices,  symbols, 
visions,  were  transient.  They  revealed  God  imperfectl3^ 
Now  He  has  spoken  to  us  by  His  Son — a  Living  Person — 
"the  brightness  of  His  glory  and  the  express  image  of  His 
Person." 

IL 

The  remaining  verses  speak  of  the  original  and  essential 
glory  of  Christ,  of  His  creation  and  preservation  of  the  universe, 
of  the  atonement  He  effected  for  human  sin,  of  the  new  great- 
ness He  has  acquired  by  His  sufterings  and  death. 

(i)  Human  language  is  baffled  in  the  attempt  to  express, 
human  thought  in  the  attempt  to  conceive,  the  interior  life  and 
relations  of  the  blessed  Trinity.  The  metaphors  employed  in 
Holy  Scripture  can  only  be  most  inadequate  representations  of 
the  actual  truth.  Their  variety  warns  us  that  the  mystery 
remains  unrevealed.  But,  though  various,  they  are  harmonious 
and  consistent,  and  one  idea  runs  through  them  •sSS.j-^God  is 
made  k?iow?i  to  His  creatures  through  the  Son.  The  secret 
thoughts  and  passions  and  purposes  of  our  souls  assume  a  defi- 
nite form,  and  are  revealed  to  our  fellow  men  in  our  words  ; 
and  the  Son  is  "  the  Word"  of  God.  A  luminous  body  is  per- 
ceived by  the  splendour  which  streams  forth  from  it,  and  the 
Son  is  the  ray  or  "  brightness  of  the  Father's  g/ory." 

But  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  the  Son  is  a  merely 
transitory  effulgence  of  the  divine  glory,  constantly  originating 
and  constantly  perishing,  (although  the  form  of  the  Greek  word 
corresponding  to  "brightness"  in  our  version  is  itself  a  pro- 
tection against  that  error),  the  writer  goes  on  to  say  that  He  is 
the  "  express  image  of  the  Father's  Person^     The  substantial 


TJie  Son  and  tJic  PropJicts.  15 

being  which  the  Father  has,  tlie  Son  has  also ;  He  is  Light  of 
Light,  but  also  very  God  of  very  God  ;  a  divine  Person,  not 
merely  a  divine  Power ;  possessing  in  Himself  the  attributes 
of  the  Father,  and  not  merely  manifesting  those  attributes ; 
by  Him  God  is  known  to  us,  and  He  is  Himself  God  over 
all,  blessed  for  evermore. 

(2)  It  is  affirmed  that  by  Him  "  God  made  the  worlds."  This 
is  not  the  only  place  in  the  New  Testament  in  which  creation 
is  ascribed  to  Christ.  St.  John  declares  that  "  all  things  were 
made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  nothing  made  that  was 
made  ;"'''  St.  Paul,  that  "by  Him  were  all  things  created,  that 
are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible, 
whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or 
powers ;  all  things  were  created  by  Him  and  for  Him."t  And 
"  He  upholds  all  things  by  the  word  of  His  power.'' 

(3)  He  effected  a  cleansing  from  sin.  Remember  that  this 
writer  was  not  addressing  philosophers  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  that  he  was  not  using  their  language.  He  was 
addressing  Jews.  He  used  Jewish  words,  and,  of  course,  in 
the  sense  in  which  Jews  used  them,  for  he  intended  to  be 
understood.  He  knew  how  they  would  understand  this  word 
v.hich  we  have  translated  "  purged ;"  that  they  would  think  at 
once  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  Jewish  law  and  of  the  cleansing 
from  impurity  which  those  sacrifices  effected.  How  impossible 
it  is  that  he  should  have  been  thinking  merely  of  the  purifica- 
tion of  the  soul  of  man  by  instruction,  by  example,  by  spiritual 
influences,  will  become  clearer  as  we  continue  our  study  of  the 
Epistle. 

Consider  now  what  has  been  said  concerning  the  greatness 
and  glory  of  Christ.  It  has  been  declared  that  the  Lord 
Jesus,  in  whom  God  has  spoken  to  us,  and  whose  sufferings 
atoned  for  our  sins,  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  His 
history  did  not  commence  when  He  was  born  in  Bethlehem. 
He  made  every  shining  planet  and  every  burning  sun — this 
world  of  ours  and  the  world  in  which  the  angels  dwell,  with  its 
stainless  purity  and  unfading  splendour.     And  but  for  Flim  all 

*  John  1,  3.  "t"  Co!.  !,  16. 


1 6  The  Sou  and  the  Prophets. 

things  would  sink  back  into  chaos  and  night.  The  burden  of 
the  creation  rests  on  Him  from  age  to  age.  He  upholds  the 
material  universe,  upholds  the  universe  of  holy  creatures, 
upholds  all  things,  not  by  laborious  effort,  not  by  the  strength 
of  His  right  arm,  but  "by  the  word  of  His  power."  "The 
heavens  declare  His  glory  and  the  firmament  showeth  his 
handiwork."  "  Every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the 
earth  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all 
that  are  in  them,"  may  be  heard  saying,  not  in  Apocalyptic 
vision  merely,  but  day  by  day,  through  all  the  ages  of  their 
existence,  "  Blessing,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power,  be 
unto  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for 
ever  and  ever,"  for  "by  Him  were  all  things  created,"  "and  by 
Him  all  things  consist." 

"When  we  are  oppressed  by  the  sense  of  guilt,  and  our  faith 
in  God's  Avillingness  to  forgive  falters,  we  should  not  expect 
l)eace  from  thinking  merely  of  the  physical  tortures  or  the 
mental  anguish  of  the  Great  Sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world, 
as  if  mere  suffering  could  be  set  over  against  sin  ;  but  should 
remember  that  He  who  atoned  for  human  transgressions  is 
the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image 
of  His  person,  made  the  worlds  at  first,  and  upholds  them  still. 
*  The  Jewish  worshipper  was  not  concerned  about  the  keenness 
^  of  the  pain  endured  by  the  victim  he  brought  to  the  altar ;  his 
only  anxiety  was  that  the  victim  should  be  of  the  right  kind, 
free  from  imperfection,  and  that  it  should  be  offered  according 
to  the  divinely  appointed  ritual.  And  our  consciences  will  find 
little  rest  while  we  think  only  of  the  agojiy  of  Christ ;  what  we 
,  need  to  remember  is,  that  He  who  stoops  to  atone  for  our  sins 
is  the  Creator  and  Moral  Ruler  of  the  Universe. 

(4)  Christ  is  made  "heir  of  alt  things,"  and  is  seated  on  "the 
right  hand  of  God;" — -Christ  who  stood  in  the  judgment-hall 
of  Pilate,  and  whose  body  lay  in  Joseph's  tomb.  He  did  not 
cast  aside  the  vesture  of  humanity  when  the  day  of  His  coro- 
nation came,  but  he  stands  among  the  hosts  of  heaven  in  His 
complex  nature,  man  as  well  as  God.  With  His  human  body, 
transfigured  and  glorified.  He  ascended  into  heaven.  Nor  did 
that  intellect  perish  Avhich  was  first  instructed  by  the  teaching 


TJie  Son  and  the  Prophets.  17 

of  His  mother,  a  Jewish  peasant — which  had  to  learn,  as  you 
and  I  learnt,  first  the  wisdom  of  childhood  and  then  the 
wisdom  of  youth — which  once  employed  itself  in  teaching  a 
few  peasants  and  fishermen  the  simplest  reHgious  truths  ; — that 
very  intellect,  expanded,  strengthened,  He  has  now.  The 
heart  which  was  once  open  to  the  assaults  of  the  devil,  and 
had  to  struggle  against  temptation  in  the  wilderness — which 
was  worn  out,  crushed,  and  broken  by  His  earthly  disappoint- 
ments, labours,  and  sufferings — still  beats  in  His  breast.  In 
the  vtxy  centre  and  fount  of  all  the  glories  of  heaven,  com- 
passed about  by  the  burning  splendours  of  the  divine  throne, 
one  with  the  eternal  God  in  majesty  and  bliss  as  He  was  one 
with  man  in  weakness,  sorrow,  and  shame,  Christ  reigns  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 

And  his  honours  are  not  mere  personal  decorations  and 
ornaments.  The  government  is  upon  His  shoulder.  All  races 
of  men,  all  angelic  ranks  and  orders,  are  subjected  to  His 
control.  He  is  heir  of  all  things ;  needing  no  fiery  terrors  to 
maintain  His  sovereignty  over  the  armies  of  heaven,  but  ruling 
them  by  the  majesty  of  His  holiness  and  the  golden  influences 
of  His  love;  winning  to  himself  the  hearts  of  the  sorrowful 
and  the  penitent  of  all  nations  by  His  yearning  compassion  for 
their  sufferings  and  their  sins.  He  is  heir  of  all  things ; 
every  region  of  the  universe  is  at  His  disposal ;  all  material 
forces  are  at  His  command  ;  the  love  and  the  homage  of  holy 
angels  and  of  the  innumerable  multitude  of  the  redeemed  are 
His  for  ever ;  and  it  will  be  His  lofty  prerogative,  His  ever- 
lasting joy,  to  augment  and  to  perpetuate  the  bliss  of  all  who 
bow  before  His  sceptre  and  obey  His  laws. 

I  need  hardly  remind  you  that  this  passage,  this  whole 
Epistle  indeed,  has  a  very  important  relation  to  questions 
which  have  long  been  the  subject  of  keen  and  strenuous  con- 
troversy among  theological  scholars,  but  which  now,  in  every 
country  in  Christendom  where  there  is  intellectual  life  and 
freedom,  are  agitating  the  minds  of  ordinary  christian  people. 
Does  the  Old  Testament  contain  the  record  of  a  Divine 
revelation,   or  is  it  a  badly  edited,  ill-digested  collection  of 

c 


1 8  The  Son  and  the  Prophets. 

the  untrustworthy  traditions  of  an  iUiterate  and  superstitious 
people  ?  I  hardly  know  to  what  extent  recent  discussions 
have  disturbed  the  faith  of  our  o^vn  congregations,  but  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  there  is  an  uneasy  feeling  in  the  minds  of 
many  who  never  utter  their  disquietude ;  and  the  mere  existence 
of  the  controversy  may  shake  the  religious  confidence  of  some 
who  have  no  opportunity  for  mastering  even  the  outlines  of  the 
arguments  of  the  opposing  disputants.  I  feel  that  the  subject 
is  almost  too  complex  and  too  intricate  to  be  dealt  with  at  all, 
except  in  a  formal  treatise;  and  it  certainly  cannot  be  fully 
dealt  with  in  mere  incidental  notices  in  sermons  on  other  sub- 
jects. But  there  are  two  or  three  thoughts  which  I  cannot  but 
express. 

(i)  It  is  a  logical  mistake  to  abandon  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 
because  of  difficulties,  insoluble  perhaps  to  us,  which  occur  in 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  There  are  two  great  divisions 
of  divine  revelation  :  God  spake  in  old  times  to  the  fathers  by 
the  prophets;  God  spake  to  us  by  His  Son.  The  earlier  re- 
velation was  fragmentary ;  it  was  given  in  various  and  imperfect 
forms,  and  by  inferior  agents.  The  later  revelation  is  complete ; 
it  was  given  once  for  all,  it  was  given  in  the  noblest  form, — in 
the  form  of  a  human  life  and  death  and  resurrection ;  in  the 
form  of  human  speech  from  the  lips  of  One  who  was  filled  Avith 
the  Spirit ; — in  the  form  of  biography  and  doctrine,  A\Titten  by 
those  who  were  specially  and  supernaturally  qualified  to  record 
the  actions  and  discourses  of  "Jesus,  and  to  interpret  the  purpose 
of  His  mission.  Difficulties  of  many  kinds  are  inseparable 
from  the  conditions  under  which  the  earlier  revelation  was  made, 
but  surely  it  is  unreasonable  on  this  account  to  reject  the  later. 
You  may  doubt  whether  you  can  recognise  the  Divine  hand  in 
the  elementary  structure  of  patriarchal  and  Jewish  faith ;  but 
this  is  no  reason  for  refusing  confidence  to  the  open  vision  ot 
God  in  the  face  of  His  only  begotten  Son.  Look  at  the  block 
of  marble  which  has  only  just  begun  to  feel  the  formative  hand 
of  the  sculptor,  and  you  may  be  uncertain  whether  or  no  the 
great  master  has  really  had  anything  to  do  with  the  rough 
hewing  of  the  still  unshapely  mass ;  but  because  of  this  you 
will  not  hesitate  when  the  idea  of  the  artist  is  perfected,  when 


The  Sou  and  the  Prophets,  19 

the  marble  has  been  inspired  with  beauty,  majesty,  and  strength, 
and  seems  to  have  caught  an  immortal  Ufe  from  the  imagination 
of  genius.  And  so,  whatever  difficulty  any  of  you  may  have  for 
a  time — and  I  believe  it  will  only  be  for  a  time — in  discovering 
the  presence  of  God  in  His  primitive  revelations  to  the  human 
race,,  this  should  be  no  reason  for  regarding  with  diminished 
faith  the  full  revelation  He  has  made  of  Himself  in  the  Son. 

(2)  We  need  feel  no  surprise  that  particular  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  have  lost  the  independent  evidence  of  their  authority 
and  inspiration,  and  depend  for  their  acceptance  on  the  fact 
that  they  are  found  among  others  which  are  unquestionably  the 
works  of  inspired  men.  In  those  ancient  Scriptures  we  have 
the  record  of  what  God  spake  to  the  fathers ;  it  is  in  the  New 
Testament  that  we  find  what  God  has  spoken  directly  to  us. 
To  the  fathers,  the  authority  of  particular  prophets  was  demon- 
strated by  evidence  which  has  now  disappeared.  That  the 
evidence,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  was  to  them  irresistible, 
is  surely  almost  proved  by  the  solitary  consideration  that  the 
books  of  the  prophets  are  filled  with  denunciations  of  national 
and  individual  sin;  there  is  hardly  any  praise— there  is  no 
flattery  at  all ;  every  form  of  crime  against  God  and  against 
man  is  charged  upon  the  Jewish  people,  and  dreadful  penalties 
are  threatened.  If  the  books  were  mere  legends  embodying 
the  v.onderful  history  of  the  nation,  or  mere  speculations  on  the 
character  and  nature  of  the  invisible  powers  Avhich  rule  the 
destiny  of  man,  they  might  have  been  originally  accepted  as 
from  God  without  consideration  and  upon  inadequate  evidence. 
But  they  are  filled  from  end  to  end  with  the  crimes  of  the 
people,  the  crimes  of  the  priesthood,  the  crimes  of  the  kings ; 
and  yet,  people,  priests,  and  kings  received  them  as  bearing  a 
divine  signature,  and  transmitted  them  as  a  most  precious 
inheritance  to  subsequent  generations.  We  may  surely  believe 
that  "  the  fathers  "  saw  very  ample  reason  to  acknowledge  that 
God  was  speaking  in  the  men  by  whom  such  books  as  these 
were  written.  But  the  point  I  wish  to  urge  is  this,  that  the 
clearest,  fullest,  and  most  direct  evidence  of  prophetic  inspira- 
tion would  be  given  to  those  to  whom  the  propl:ets  spake ;  and 
that  it  is  very  possible  that  people  living  in  remote  lands  and 


20  The  Son  and  the  Prophets. 

remote  ages,  may  be  unable  either  to  recover  the  external  evi- 
dence of  their  divine  commission,  or  to  solve  many  questions 
which  the  contents  of  their  books  suggest.  It  is  enough  for  us 
if  the  revelation  given  more  directly  to  ourselves  is  sustained  by 
evidence  which  commands  our  beUef. 

(3)  This  text  raises  the  inquiry,  To  what  extent  is  the  New 
Testament  responsible  for  the  Old  ?  I  have  already  maintained 
that  our  first  duty  is  to  satisfy  ourselves  that  God  has  spoken  to 
us  by  His  Son  :  if  we  see  reason  for  believing  that, — for  believing 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  indeed  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory,  the  express  image  of  His  person,  that  He  is  the  Creator 
of  all  things,  the  Upholder  of  all,  the  Sacrifice  for  the  world's 
guilt,  the  Heir  and  the  Ruler  of  heaven  and  earth,— we  ought 
to  rest  with  perfect  confidence  in  Him,  although  we  may  be 
disturbed  by  controversies  about  preceding  revelations.  But 
still  the  question.  To  what  extent  is  the  New  Testament 
responsible  for  the  Old  ?  is  of  great  interest,  and  cannot  be 
evaded.  I  beUeve  that  its  responsibility  amounts  to  this  : — 
Throughout  the  New  Testament,  in  the  discourses  of  Christ 
contained  in  the  Four  Gospels,  in  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles 
contained  in  the  Epistles,  the  authority  of  the  line  of  Jewish 
prophets  is  clearly  recognised,  the  divine  sanction  of  the  Jewish 
institutions  is  clearly  acknowledged.  Not  in  incidental  allu- 
sions, not  in  isolated  passages  merely,  but  in  the  whole  structure 
and  spirit  of  the  new  religious  faith,  the  divine  origin  of  the  old 
is  implied  and  taken  for  granted.  "  God  spake  in  times  past 
to  the  fathers  by  the  prophets ;"  this  occurs  and  re-occurs  ^  in 
ever-varying  forms  in  the  history  of  our  Lord  and  in  the  teachmg 
of  His  inspired  representatives.  The  divine  commission  of 
Jewish  prophets,  the  divine  sanction  of  Jewish  institutions— the 
New  Testament  is  responsible  for  these.  But  many  of  the 
ciuestions  which  have  been  discussed  so  vehemently  of  late, 
concerning  the  perfect  accuracy  of  the  historical  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament  must  be  determined  on  other  grounds.  The 
Jewish  institutions  may  have  been  divinely  sanctioned,  the 
Jewish  prophets  may  have  been  divinely  inspired,  yet  the  books 
which  describe  liie  institutions  and  record  the  history  of  the 
people,  may  not  have  been  kept  free,  even  in  their  original  and 


TJic  Son  and  the  Prophets.  21 

uncorrupted  form,  from  all  mistake.  What  ill  success  recent 
critics  of  the  earlier  documents  have  had  in  attempting  to 
expose  their  errors  some  of  you  know ;  and  I  do  not  think  it 
likely,  that  after  the  Jewish  Scriptures  have  stood  for  so  many 
centuries  against  the  keenest  adverse  criticism,  they  are  likely 
to  fail  now  •  but  it  is  of  some  importance  to  maintain,  that  even 
if  it  were  demonstrated,  which  it  has  not  been,*  that  mistakes 
existed  in  the  Pentateuch  when  it  came  from  the  hand  of  its 
author  or  editor,  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  of  His 
apostles  is  not  thereby  overthrown.  They  are  directly  respon- 
sible only  for  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Je\vish  system,  and 
the  Divine  commission  of  the  men  by  whom  it  was  founded 
and  maintained.  To  determine  the  questions  agitated  in  many 
modem  controversies,  we  must  carefully  examine  the  ancient 
books  themselves. 

I  can  only  anticipate  one  result  of  that  examination.  Search 
the  literature  of  the  world,  and  where,  except  in  the  Gospels 
of  the  New  Testament,  will  you  find  narratives  so  radiant  with 
a  divine  beauty  as  those  contained  in  the  very  earliest  books  of 
the  Old  ? — nan-atives  which  bear  their  own  evidence  that  they 
were  \vritten  under  divine  guidance, — narratives  which  touch 
the  heart,  and  the  conscience,  and  the  spiritual  life,  Avith  a 

*  I  do  not  refer,  of  covirse,  to  those  unscientific  references  to  the  material 
universe  which  occur  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  in  all  other  ancient  books.  A 
revelation  ?}iiist  be  given  in  the  forms  of  thought  common  among  the  people  to 
whom  it  is  made.  Had  the  incidental  references  of  Moses  to  the  celestial 
bodies,  and  the  form  of  the  earth,  been  in  perfect  harmony  with  modem  science, 
the  Pentateuch  would  have  been  not  more  Divine  but  less  natural ;  it  would 
have  been  a  prodigy  to  be  wondered  at,  but  not  a  whit  more  precious  as  the 
record  of  a  Divine  revelation.  Human  forms  of  thought  and  human  conceptions 
of  material  things,  were  the  necessary  vesture  of  Divine  revelation,  as  truly  as 
human  language,  which  is  indeed  nothing  but  a  brief  summary  of  what  man  has 
come  to  think  about  himself  and  the  world.  It  would  be  as  reasonable  to  com- 
plain that  Moses  has  not  written  in  the  style  of  Addison  or  of  Pascal,  as  to 
complain  that  he  did  not  think  of  the  material  world  like  Sir  John  Herschel  or 
Arago.  Moreover,  a  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  a  Divine  revelation 
and  the  human  record  of  it.  \Vliat  God  revealed  to  Moses  is  one  thing  ;  the 
account  which  Moses  gives  of  that  revelation  is  a  very  different  thing.  In 
what  Moses  writes  we  may  expect  to  find  many  things  which  did  not  come  to 
him  direct  from  Heaven,  and  we  shall  certainly  find  that  the  form  in  which  he 
has  communicated  even  what  he  had  heard  and  seen  in  supernatural  vision 
■was  determined  by  the  laws  and  culture  of  his  own  intellectual  and  moral  life. 


22  The  Son  and  the  PropJiets. 

power  which  none  who  have  felt  it  can  ever  ascribe  to  any- 
inferior  origin.  Wonderful  histories  !  fascinating  the  imagina- 
tion of  childhood,  consoling  the  sorrows  of  old  age,  the  charm 
of  the  illiterate,  the  marvel  of  the  learned  ;  receiving  through 
century  after  century  the  homage  not  only  of  hostile  races,  but 
of  men  of  hostile  religious  faiths — of  men  hating  each  other 
with  fanatical  hatred,  but  forgetting  their  animosity  in  the 
presence  of  these  venerable  records — Christian  and  Jew  bowing 
together  over  the  same  pages,  regarding  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  with  the  same  reverential  love.  I  can  trust  to  the 
authority  of  Christ  and  His  apostles  for  the  divine  authority  of 
Jewish  institutions  ;  I  can  trust  to  the  simple  and  irrepressible 
instincts  of  the  human  heart,  the  wide  world  over,  for  a 
recognition  of  the  divine  origin  of  Jewish  books.  We  needed 
perhaps  these  controversies  to  try  our  faith  of  what  sort  it  is. 
God  grant  that  we  may  all  have  that  direct  and  personal  know- 
ledge of  the  Lord  Jesus  which  will  enable  us  to  say  to  honest 
doubters  and  flippant  sceptics — Herein  is  a  marvellous  thing, 
that  ye  know  not  from  whence  He  is,  and  yet  He  hath  opened 
our  eyes  ;  we  have  heard  Him  ourselves,  and  know  that  this  is 
indeed  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 


THE  SON  AND  THE  ANGELS. 

"Being  made  so  much  better  than  the  Angels,  as  He  hath  by  inheritance 
obtained  a  more  excellent  name  than  they,"  &c.— Hebrews  i,  4-14. 

Even  if  there  were  no  hint  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the 
existence  of  angeUc  beings,  it  would  have  been  very  natural 
and  very  reasonable  to  suppose  that  man  was  not  the  only 
creature  capable  of  knowing  and  loving  God,  and  of  rendering 
Him  voluntary  obedience. 

In  the  visible  universe,  the  Divine  Avisdom  and  poAver  are 
revealed  in  an  infinite  variety  of  forms.  God  has  manifested 
in  His  works  the  inexhaustible  fulness  of  His  own  nature.  In 
the  heavens  there  is  the  sun  with  his  robe  of  burning  light,  and 
the  moon  with  her  meek  and  quiet  splendour;  there  are 
shining  planets  moving  in  silence  and  majesty  along  their 
appointed  paths;  glittering  stars,  themselves  the  centres  of 
other  systems  of  glory;  and  comets  plunging  fiercely  and 
passionately  through  the  depths  of  space.  And,  without  look- 
ing away  from  the  earth  Avhich  is  our  own  home,  we  see  the 
ocean  and  the  dry  land,  flowers  and  trees,  the  fish  of  the  sea 
and  the  birds  of  the  air,  animals  of  prodigious  size  and 
enormous  strength,  and  insects  so  minute  that  myriads  of 
them  dwell  together  on  a  leaf. 

It  would,  therefore,  have  been  very  natural  and  reasonable  to 
suppose,  even  apart  from  Revelation,  that  there  was  variety  in 
God's  spiritual  universe.  We  could  hardly  have  believed  that 
there  was  only  a  single  race  of  creatures  that  could  adore  the 
perfections  of  the  Creator,  and  offer  Him  thanksgivings  for 
His  infinite  love.  We  know  that  He  delights  in  holiness  and 
sliould  have  thought  it  altogether  improbable  that  He  would 


24  The  Son  and  the  Angels. 

have  created  only  one  order  of  beings  capable  of  doing 
homage  to  His  righteous  Law.  This  improbability  would  have 
been  increased  by  human  sin.  Our  holiness,  even  when  con- 
summated in  heaven,  will  be  a  holiness  that  has  had  its  origin 
in  penitence  and  been  disciplined  by  chastisement,  a  holiness 
perfected  indeed  by  our  earthly  experiences  of  sin  and  suffer- 
ing, but  for  that  very  reason  different  from  the  innocence  of 
unfallen  beings.  And  we  should  have  argued  that  surely  in 
some  region  near  or  remote,  there  were  creatures  on  whose 
purity  no  stain  had  ever  rested. 

But  we  are  not  left  to  such  speculations  as  these.  In  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New,  there  are  many  references  to  a 
glorious  kingdom  of  spiritual  beings,  mighty  in  power,  and 
perfect  in  happiness,  who  serve  God  day  and  night  without 
ceasing,  and  who,  from  the  moment  of  their  creation,  have 
never  grieved  His  heart  nor  broken  the  least  of  His  command- 
ments. Angelic  messengers  conversed  with  Abraham,  and  led 
Lot  out  of  Sodom.  Jacob  saw  in  a  dream  angels  ascending 
and  descending  on  a  path  of  light  between  the  heavens  and 
the  earth.  Wlien  man  was  driven  out  of  Eden,  the  flaming 
sword  of  the  cherubim  guarded  the  tree  of  life.  When  the  law 
was  given  on  Sinai,  and  Jehovah  revealed  His  presence  in  light- 
nings and  thunders,  thousands  of  angels  were  round  about  Him. 
It  was  an  angel  of  the  Lord  that  told  Mary  of  the  honour  that 
was  coming  to  her  of  being  the  mother  of  Jesus ;  an  angel 
appeared  in  a  dream  to  speak  of  His  birth  to  Joseph;  an  angel 
announced  to  the  shepherds  that  there  was  born  in  the  city  of 
David  a  Saviour,  Christ  the  Lord;  and  as  soon  as  the  announce- 
ment was  made,  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host  sang  "  Glory 
to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace  and  good-will 
towards  men."  An  angel  strengthened  Christ  in  Gethsemane. 
Angels  watched  in  His  deserted  tomb.  Angels  spoke  words 
of  comfort  to  the  disciples  when  he  had  ascended  into  heaven. 
"\Mien  the  apostles  were  put  in  prison,  the  angel  of  the 
Lord  opened  the  prison  doors  and  brought  them  forth. 
When,  somewhat  later,  Peter  alone  was  imprisoned,  it  was  an 
angel  who  touched  him  while  he  slept,  loosened  his  chains, 
and  led  him  away  from  the  sleeping  guards,  and  through  the 


TJic  Sou  and  the  Angels.  25 

opened  doors,  and  so  delivered  him  from  the  hand  of  Herod. 
"When  Paul  was  in  danger  of  ship\vreck,  an  angel  appeared  to 
him  and  assured  him  of  safety.  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord 
encampeth  round  about  those  that  fear  Him  :  "  and  God  has 
given  "  His  angels  charge  over  "  His  people,  "  to  keep  them  in 
all  their  ways."  They  shouted  for  joy,  they  sang  together  when 
the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  laid  ;  and  still  "there  is  joy 
among  the  angels  of  God  when  a  sinner  is  brought  to  repent- 
ance." The  magnificent  hymn  of  St.  Ambrose,  the  common 
inheritance  of  all  the  churches  of  Christendom,  has  nobly 
described  their  blessed  occupation.  "  To  Thee  all  angels  cry 
aloud — the  heavens  and  all  the  powers  therein — to  Thee 
cherubim  and  seraphim  continually  do  cry,  '  Holy,  holy,  holy, 
Lord  God  of  Hosts!'" 

Now  the  Avriter  of  this  Epistle  places  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  contrast  with  these  glorious  beings,  and  claims  for  Him  a 
higher  and  more  honourable  rank  :  He  is  made  so  iniich  better 
than  the  angels,  as  He  hath  by  inheritance  obtained  a  more  excel- 
lent name  than  they. 

Those  of  you  who  are  acquainted  with  any  of  the  learned 
commentaries  on  this  Epistle  will  understand  how  impossible  it 
is  to  discuss  in  a  sermon  the  intricate  questions  which  are 
raised  by  the  chain  of  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament,  by 
which  the  A\Titer  maintains  or  illustrates  this  position.  Having 
carefully  endeavoured  to  satisfy  my  own  mind  on  the  principal 
questions  requiring  solution,  I  shall  give  the  results,  without 
attempting  either  to  show  the  grounds  on  which  they  rest,  or  to 
state  my  reasons  for  rejecting  other  interpretations. 

I  take  this  section  of  the  Epistle,  then,  and  suppose  that 
I  am  explaining  to  a  Christian  Jew  the  line  of  the  v.-riter's 
thought.  This  is  the  point  at  which  he  starts — that  Christ  is 
greater  than  the  angels.  He  is  greater,  because  in  those  ancient 
scriptures  on  which  you  Jews  rest  your  hopes  of  a  Messiah,  and 
in  which  the  spirit  of  prophecy  gradually  revealed  the  glories  of 
His  person  and  of  His  kingdom,  a  ^^  more  distinguished  natne" 
is  given  to  Him  than  is  ever  given  to  them,  and  that  name  with 
all   the   dignity   it   implies,   Jesus — who    is    the    Christ — has 


26  The  Sou  and  the  Angels. 

"  inherited ;^^ — it  comes  down  to  Him  from  psalmists  and  from 
prophets  who  spake  ages  ago  of  His  coming.  The  holy  and 
happy  creatures  who  are  the  invisible  agents  of  the  Divine  will, 
are  spoken  of  in  scripture  by  an  honourable  name ;  they  are 
the  " angels"  that  is,  the  messengers  of  God ;  but  the  name  by 
which  the  Christ  is  spoken  of  is  more  honourable  still. 

For  look  into  the  second  Psalm.  There  David,  who  had 
received  through  the  lips  of  Nathan  a  clearer  and  fuller  pro- 
phecy of  the  Messiah  than  had  ever  been  delivered  before,  is 
giving  utterance  to  his  vision  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the 
future  King.  Just  as  our  own  poets  sometimes  take  their  flight 
across  all  the  generations  of  mankind  that  intervene  between 
ourselves  and  the  final  restoration  of  the  world  to  God,  and 
sing  rapturous  songs  of  victory  over  the  disappearance  of  the 
sin  and  wretchedness  which  it  will  take  centuries  yet  to  banish 
from  the  earth,  and  over  the  holiness  and  joy  for  which  age 
after  age  must  continue  to  labour,  and  to  pray,  and  to  wait, — so 
this  inspired  poet  sees  the  Messiah  already  placed  on  His 
throne — sees  the  hostility  which  will  rise  against  His  sceptre — 
sees  the  manifestation  of  the  Messiah's  victorious  energy — and 
puts  in  the  Messiah's  lips  a  declaration  of  the  Divine  decree 
which  is  the  foundation  of  His  authority  and  dignity.  "  The 
Lord  hath  said  to  me.  Thou  art  My  Son,  this  day  have  J 
begotten  TJiee."     To  which  of  the  angels  has  He  ever  said  that? 

Turn  again  to  that  prophecy  of  Nathan's  which  is  the  founda- 
tion of  so  many  of  the  later  prophetic  declarations."  "When 
thy  days  be  fulfilled,"  said  Nathan  to  the  king,  "  and  thou  shalt 
sleep  with  thy  fathers,  I  will  set  up  thy  seed  after  thee,  which 
shall  proceed  out  of  thy  bowels,  and  I  will  establish  his  king- 
dom. He  shall  build  a  house  for  my  name  and  I  will  estabhsh 
the  throne  of  his  kingdom  for  ever.  /  will  he  his  father,  and  he 
shall  be  my  son."  * 

This  Avas  the  relation  in  which  all  the  kings  of  the  house  of 
David  were  to  stand  to  God — and  this  relation,  in  its  highest 
and  most  perfect  form,  belongs  to  that  king  of  whose  royal 
authority  the  kingship  of  Jewish  sovereigns  was  but  the  dim  and 

*  2  Samuel  vii,  12. 


The  Son  and  the  Ajigels.  27 

imperfect  symbol.  "  I  will  be  his  father,  and  he  shall  be 
my  son," — was  the  promise  given  to  David  concerning  his 
children ;  this  promise  the  Christ  who  is  David's  great  descend- 
ant has  inherited,  and  it  confers  on  Him  a  more  honourable 
name  than  the  angels  have  ever  received.  They  are  called 
God's  messengers  :  He  is  called  God's  Son. 

Nor  is  this  all.  So  superior  is  Christ  to  the  angels  that,  as 
every  Christian  knew,  a  company  of  the  heavenly  host  did 
homage  to  Him  at  His  birth,  c^ame  from  the  skies  that  men 
might  hear  their  adoring  songs ;  so  that  if  the  evangelist  Luke, 
instead  of  telling  us  what  the  angels  sang  on  earth,  had  opened 
the  gates  of  heaven  and  permitted  us  to  listen  to  the  divine 
command  which  bade  them  come  down  to  the  plain  of  Bethle- 
hem, he  might  have  given  that  command  in  the  very  words 
which  occur  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures — words  which  are 
footed  from  the  ninety-seventh  Psalm,  which  is  a  prophecy  of 
the  Messiah's  kingdom,  or  from  the  thirty-second  chapter  of 
Deuteronomy,  where  the  words  in  this  exact  form  are  preserved 
in  the  Septuagint  though  they  have  disappeared  from  the 
Hebrew  :  "  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him." 

It  was  thus  that  in  old  time  the  Messiah  was  described  :  this 
is  the  name  He  "  inherits."  He  is  "  Son  of  God  ;"  and  if  any 
one  suggests  that  the  angels  too  are  called  the  sons  of  God  in 
the  Old  Testament,  it  may  be  answered  that  a  Jew  who  had 
read  the  Old  Testament  aright,  would  see  that  there  was  the 
same  distinction  between  the  manner  in  which  the  ancient 
inspired  wTiters  speak  of  the  Messiah  as  Son  of  God,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  speak  of  the  angels  as  sons  of  God — that 
every  orthodox  Christian  recognises  in  the  New  Testament 
between  the  application  "  Son  of  God  "  to  Christ,  and  "  sons  of 
God  "  to  those  that  believe  on  Him.  In  the  one  case  it  is  a 
tide  shared  by  a  multitude  of  individuals ;  in  the  other  it  is  so 
employed  as  to  denote  a  solitary,  unique,  and  unapproachable 
dignity. 

And  now,  how  are  the  angels  spoken  of?  "Why,  in  the 
hundrcd-and-fourth  Psalm  the  very  name  assigned  to  these 
glorious  spirits,  their  characteristic  designation,  "messengers" 
of  God,  is  given  to  the  powers  of  the  material  world.     "  O 


28  TJie  Son  and  the  Angels. 

Lord,  my  God,  Thou  art  very  great.  Thou  art  clothed  with 
honour  and  majesty,  who  maketh  the  clouds  His  chariot — who 
walketh  upon  the  wings  of  the  \vind — who  maketh  the  winds 
His  viessejigers,  or,  His  angels — a  flame  of  fire  (the  lightning) 
His  servants"  The  title  given  to  the  angels,  honourable  as  it 
is,  is  one  which  they  share  with  the  unconscious  energies  of 
God's  creation  :  the  winds  and  the  lightnings  are  His  angels 
too. 

In  contrast  with  this,  look  to  another  Psalm  in  which  the 
Psalmist  is  speaking  again  of  the  glory  of  the  King ;  and,  as  the 
contents  of  the  Psalm  show,  is  speaking  of  that  King  whose 
greatness  could  not  be  possessed  by  any  of  His  predecessors  on 
David's  throne.  He  is  speaking  of  the  King  of  inspired  pro- 
phecy— the  King  of  Jewish  hope — he  sees  Him  already,  though 
afar  off,  fairer  than  the  children  of  men,  grace  is  poured  into 
His  lips  and  he  exclaims,  "  Gird  Thy  sword  upon  Thy  thigh,  O 
most  Mighty,  with  Thy  glory  and  Thy  majesty.  Thy  throne, 
O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever,  a  sceptre  of  righteousness  is  the 
sceptre  of  TJiy  kingdom  :  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness,  and  hated 
iniquity;  therefore  God,  eveji  Thy  God,  hath  anointed  Thee  tuith 
the  oil  of  gladness  above  TJiy  fellows."  Kindling  with  the  vision 
of  Christ's  glory  the  writer  then  quotes  a  passage  from  the 
hundred-and-second  Psalm,  which  is  directly  addressed  to  God 
Himself  Christ  was  acknowledged  by  the  Jewish  Christians  to 
be  Creator  of  all  things,  though  their  hearts  were  losing  the 
vivid  perception  and  profound  impression  of  His  greatness  ; 
the  words  he  quotes,  whether  addressed  originally  to  the  Messiah 
or  not,  only  express  more  fully  what  the  faith  of  the  Jewish 
believers  confessed  : — "  Thou,  Lord,  ifi  the  beginning  hast  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  earth;  a?id  the  heavens  ai'e  the  works  of 
Thine  hands :  they  shall  perish ;  but  Thou  remainest ;  ajid  they 
all  shall  wax  old,  as  doth  a  garment ;  and  as  a  vesture  shalt 
Thou  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall  be  changed :  but  Thou  art  the 
same,  and  Thy  years  shall  not  fail." 

Again,  "  To  which  of  the  angels  said  He  at  any  time "  what 
He  says  in  another  Psalm,  (the  hundred-and-tenth),  which 
plainly  relates  to  the  Messiah — "  Sit  Thou  at  My  right  hand" 
— share  My  authority — share  I\Iy  glory — "  until  I  make  Thine 


TJie  Son  and  the  Angels.  29 

enemies  Thy  footstool  V  The  Messiah  is  to  sit  on  the  throne  of 
God,  but  the  angels  are  '■'■  ininistcring  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister 
to  them  7i.iho  are  about  to  inherit  salvation." 

Concerning  this  series  of  quotations  generally,  I  wish  to  say- 
before  passing  on,  that  we  shall  misapprehend  the  spirit  and 
structure  of  the  whole  passage,  if  we  suppose  that  these  texts 
from  the  Old  Testament  were  intended  to  form  such  a  demon- 
stration of  the  divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  should  convince 
those  who  theoretically  denied  the  doctrine.  The  writer  of  this 
Epistle  is  not  arguing  with  unbelievers,  and  therefore  his 
argument  is  not  shaped  with  any  reference  to  their  intellectual 
position.  He  is  addressing  those  who  acknowledged  the 
Messiahship  of  Christ,  who  confessed  that  He  was  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh,  but  in  whom  this  faith  was  becoming  practically 
ineffectual  through  the  returning  power  of  their  old  religious 
life.  He  therefore  takes  their  ancient  Scriptures,  and  points  to 
passage  after  passage  in  which  the  Messiah's  glory  is  predicted, 
not  to  demonstrate  that  glory  as  an  abstract  truth — they 
believed  the  doctrine  already — but  to  give  depth  and  vividness 
to  their  conceptions  of  it,  just  as  a  Christian  preacher  addres- 
sing a  Christian  congregation,  is  constantly  reviewing  and  reiter- 
ating the  Scripture  teaching  on  important  Christian  doctrines, 
not  with  the  idea  of  convincing  those  who  intellectually  reject 
the  doctrines,  but  to  intensify  the  influence  of  a  true  Christian 
faith  which  he  supposes  his  audience  already  to  possess.  If  he 
were  reasoning  with  unbelievers  his  argument  would  rest  on 
other  premises,  or,  at  least,  be  conducted  in  another  "method. 
It  is  necessary,  of  course,  that  his  reasoning  should  be  sound 
in  itself,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  it  should  be  of  the  same 
kind  that  he  would  adopt  if  he  were  maintaining  a  controversy 
with  men  of  another  creed. 

Let  us  review  for  a  moment  these  sublime  representations  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  may  strengthen  our  faith,  tliey 
may  animate  our  courage,  in  these  days  of  conflict  and  of 
doubt,  even  as  they  were  intended  to  confirm  the  fidelity  of 
Christian  people  who  were  living  in  a  still  more  tempestuous 
age. 


30  The  Son  and  the  Angels. 

Christendom  is  agitated  by  a  thousand  controversies — on 
some  of  the  principal  of  them  we  can  look  this  morning,  while 
under  the  shelter  of  this  inspired  teaching,  with  untroubled 
calmness,  and  can  anticipate  their  final  issue  with  exulting 
hope.  Scholars  and  philosophers  are  engaged  in  discussions 
concerning  the  claims  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  His  character,  and 
the  value  of  His  teaching.  They  begin  by  placing  Him  among 
the  merely  human  founders  of  great  religious  systems,  and  it  is 
no  wonder  that  they  are  baffled  in  attempting  to  construct  a 
satisfactory  theory  of  His  history,  and  to  account  for  the 
success  of  His  mission.  They  analyze  the  records  of  His 
wonderful  life,  and  every  quarter  of  a  century  some  new  theory 
is  found  necessary  to  get  rid  of  the  supernatural  element  in 
the  records  of  the  four  evangelists.  There  is  confusion,  per- 
plexity, darkness,  among  the  disputants,  and  they  seem  still 
far  off  from  the  only  solution  of  their  difficulties  which  is  likely 
to  give  them  lasting  satisfaction  and  rest.  But,  rising  above 
the  clamour  of  this  loud  debate,  we  hear  a  voice  which  quiets 
all  our  anxiety.  We  have  satisfied  ourselves  that  the  voice  is 
Divine,  and  its  utterances  are  too  plain  to  be  misunderstood — 
"  Thou  art  my  Son,"  "  Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him." 
Thankfully  escaping  from  the  transient  controversies  of  our 
time,  we  too  bow  before  him  whom  the  angels  are  commanded 
to  adore,  and  we  exclaim  "Thou  art  the  King  of  Glory,  O 
Christ :  Thou  art  the  everlasting  Son  of  the  Father :.  we  pray 
Thee  help  Thy  servants  whom  Thou  hast  redeemed  with  Thy 
precious  blood ;  make  them  to  be  numbered  with  Thy  saints 
in  glory  everlasting." 

Again,  we  are  told  by  some  who  have  thoughtfully  con- 
sidered the  history  of  the  human  race,  and  have  constructed  a 
theory  of  the  secret  laws  which  regulate  the  gradual  civilization 
of  barbarous  tribes,  the  growth  and  the  decline  of  empires,  the 
development  and  the  vicissitudes  of  philosophical  systems,  the 
origination,  diffusion  and  decay  of  various  forms  of  religious 
faith,  that  Christianity,  like  other  systems  of  belief  and  wor- 
ship, has  sprung  from  the  instincts,  and  experiences,  and  hopes 
of  mankind ;  that  it  is  no  Divine  gift,  but  the  representation  of 
the  degree  of  growth  to  which  the  religious  life  of  a  remarkable 


The  Son  and  the  Angels.  31 

people  had  attained  eighteen  centuries  ago ;  that  already  it  is 
giving  place  to  other  and  higher  conceptions  of  the  Divine 
nature  and  will,  and  must  in  a  few  generations  altogether  dis- 
appear. We  have  heard  prophecies  of  that  kind  too  often  to 
be  greatly  troubled  by  them ;  but  if  for  a  moment  we  begin  to 
tremble,  and  to  be  saddened  by  the  thought  of  the  possibility 
of  the  Christian  faith  becoming  some  day  a  mere  memory  of 
the  past,  like  the  religious  systems  which  flourished  in  the 
nations  and  empires  of  ancient  times,  our  hearts  are  thrilled 
with  delight  and  confidence  as  we  listen  to  the  song  of  ancient 
prophecy,  a  song  addressed  to  the  Christ  whom  we  serve — 
"  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever  : " — "  therefore  will 
not  we  fear  though  the  earth  be  removed,  and  though  the 
mountains  be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea." 

But  again  it  is  urged,  that  the  progress  of  natural  science  is 
sapping  the  foundations  of  the  Christian  faith,  that  every  year 
the  battle  between  the  anci~ent  books  and  the  demonstrated 
results  of  modern  discovery  is  becoming  more  fierce,  and  that 
the  conflict  can  only  terminate  in  the  complete  overthrow  of 
the  fancies  which  have  ruled  for  so  many  centuries  the  intellect 
and  the  heart  of  Christendom.  We  are  not  afraid  of  the  results 
of  patient  and  fearless  inquiry  into  the  structure  of  the  material 
universe ;  that,  too,  is  a  divine  revelation  ;  and  in  explaining 
the  meaning  of  its  phenomena,  we  are  interpreting  the  very 
handwTiting  of  God.  No  doubt  some  things  may  be  found 
there  (in  that  inspired  book  of  nature  I  mean)  "hard  to  be 
understood,  which  they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest, 
as  they  do  the  other  Scriptiwes,  to  their  own  destruction,"  but 
that  is  no  reason  for  closing  the  book  or  for  quarrelling  with 
those  who  are  honestly  endeavouring  to  understand  it,  or  for 
apprehending  that  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  heavens  or  the 
earth  will  destroy  our  faith  in  Christ,  or  cause  our  v.orship  of 
Him  to  cease.  Destroy  our  faith  in  Him !  cause  our  worship 
of  Him  to  cease  !  Impossible — why  it  was  He  who  "  in  the 
beginning  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens 
are  the  work  of  His  hand  :  they  shall  perish,  but  Thou,  O 
Christ,  remainest ;  and  they  all  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment, 


32  The  Son  and  the  Angels. 

and  as  a  vesture  shalt  Thou  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall  be 
changed,  but  Thou  art  the  same,  and  Thy  years  shall  not  fail." 

Yes — He  will  reign  for  ever  and  ever.  Not  in  the  heavens 
alone,  but  also  upon  earth.  He  is  King  of  mankind,  and  all 
men  shall  bow  before  His  throne.  The  honest  doubts  and 
difficulties  of  the  good  He  will  dissipate  and  dispel,  and  over 
all  the  hostility  of  His  foes  He  will  win  a  complete  and  an 
immortal  victory.  His  enemies — the  crime,  the  vice,  the  sin, 
the  ignorance,  the  wretchedness  of  individual  men ;  His  ene- 
mies— the  unjust  laws  of  nations,  the  gigantic  systems  of 
oppression  and  wrong  which  have  broken  the  spirit,  darkened 
the  intellect,  corrupted  the  heart,  wasted  the  happiness  of 
whole  races  of  mankind;  His  enemies — all  the  ruinous  false- 
hoods, all  the  cruel  and  polluting  superstitions  which  have 
afflicted  and  cursed  the  human  family, — they  are  all  destined 
to  destruction,  for  the  Most  High  hath  said  to  Him,  "  Sit  Thou 
on  My  right  hand,  till  I  make  Thine  enemies  Thy  footstool." 

Meantime,  while  we  are  struggling,  in  His  name  and  relying 
on  His  help,  against  all  kinds  of  misery,  of  error,  and  of  sin — 
we  are  surrounded  by  invisible  forms  that  watch  our  labour 
with  delight ;  and  are  near  in  our  times  of  peril,  of  weakness, 
and  of  doubt,  to  shield  us  from  danger,  to  strengthen  and 
support.  He  who  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God  is  served  by 
all  the  hosts  of  heaven,  and  they  have  learnt  long  ago  that  the 
brightest  crown  which 'glitters  on  the  head  of  their  King,  v^^as 
won  by  His  work  for  us  sinners,  that  His  greatest  joy  is  in  our 
salvation.  And  so  they,  too,  are  eager  to  be  the  ministers  of 
His  mercy  in  assisting  to  accomplish  the  redemption  of  the 
human  race.  They  esteem  it  the  most  honourable  of  employ- 
ments. They  watch  with  more  than  fraternal  love  over  the 
destinies  of  those  whom  Christ  calls  His  brethren.  They 
know  that  by  and  by  their  songs  will  welcome  us  into  everlast- 
ing bhss,  and  they  want  to  be  able  to  tell  us  when  we  meet 
them  in  heaven  of  kindly  services  they  rendered  to  us  before 
we  had  been  permitted  to  gaze  on  their  glory,  and  when  we 
knew  not  they  were  near.  They  are  "  ministering  spirits  sent 
forth  to  minister"  not  to  the  kings  and  princes  and  great  men 
of  the  world — but  to  little  children,  to  solitary,  aged  men  and 


The   Son  and  the  ^liti-els.  -w 

women,  to  ihc  desolate  whom  human  symjiathy  seems  to  have 
forsaken — to  tlie  poor — to  those  that  love  Christ  everywhere ; 
they  are  sent  forth  '^  to  ininistcr  to  them  about  to  inherit 
salvation.'"  And  that  whicli  makes  their  service  most  grateful 
to  our  hearts  is  the  thought  that  they  render  this  service,  not 
merely  because  they  are  commanded  to  do  it,  but  because  they 
know  that  Christ's  love  for  us  is  so  great  that  by  helinng  us 
they  win  His  highest  api^robation. 


DRIFTING  FROM  CHRIST. 

"  Therefore  we  ought  to  give  more  earnest  heed,"  &c. — Hebrews  ii,  1-4. 

There  are  three  principal  thoughts  in  this  passage,  and  these 
will  form  the  three  principal  divisions  of  this  morning's  sermon. 
The  persons  to  whom  this  Epistle  w^as  written  are  warned 
against  neglecting  the  great  salvation ;  they  are  charged  to  give 
earnest  heed  to  the  things  which  they  have  heard,  that  is,  to 
the  facts  and  promises  and  laws  which  form  the  substance  of 
Christian  teaching ;  and  there  are  several  reasons  given  why 
they  should  fulfil  the  duty. 

I. 

Let  us  consider  what  is  meant  by  neglecting  tJie  great  salvation. 
It  is  indispensable  to  a  right  understanding  of  every  argument 
and  ever}^  exhortation  in  this  Epistle  that  we  should  constantly 
recall  the  character  and  circumstances  of  those  to  whom  it  was 
written.  They  were  not  irreligious  people.  They  were  not 
people  who  rejected  the  mercy  and  resisted  the  authority  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  were  Jewish  Christians,  some  of 
whom  had  believed  in  Christ  for  many  years.  Their  faith  had 
been  severely  tested ;  they  had  endured,  as  they  are  reminded 
afterwards,  a  great  fight  of  afilictions;  they  had  been  subjected 
to  public  shame  and  reproach  themselves,  and  they  had  been 
the  companions  of  those  who  had  been  thus  persecuted ;  the}- 
had  taken  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  knowang  that  the}' 
had  in  heaven  a  better  and  an  enduring  substance.  But  they 
were  getting  weary  of  the  protracted  struggle.  Some  of  them 
were  forsaking  the  Christian  assemblies.  To  their  intellect 
and   heart   the   glor}^   of  the    Christian    faith    was    gradually 


Drifting  from   Christ.  35 

becoming  dim.  The  excitement  they  had  felt  in  the  earher 
years  of  the  conflict  had  gone  off,  and  through  sheer  exhaustion 
they  were  gi\'ing  way.  The  influence  of  their  eariier  Jewish 
habits  and  passions  was  silently  but  rapidly  recovering  strength ; 
and  they  were  in  danger  of  "  letting  slip  "  or  being  "  drifted 
from "  the  things  they  had  heard. 

The  image  wrapped  in  the  word  which  the  wTiter  uses  is  a 
very  impressive  and  instructive  one.  The  idea  is,  that  these 
Jewish  Christians  were  in  danger  of  being  carried  away  from  the 
gospel  of  Christ  just  as  a  vessel  will  be  drifted  down  the  stream 
unless  it  is  held  firmly  to  its  anchorage,  or  unless  there  is  con- 
stant exertion  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  on  board  to  resist 
the  current.  There  was  a  strong  tide  running,  and  unless  they 
gave  earnest  heed  to  the  gospel  they  would  be  swept  away 
from  the  side  of  Christ  back  into  their  old  Jewish  life. 

It  is  against  tliis  that  they  are  warned.  This  is  the  kind  of 
"  neglect "  of  which  they  were  likely  to  be  guilty.  It  was  the 
neglect,  not  of  those  who  are  openly  irreligious,  not  of  those 
who  positively  reject  the  gospel,  but  of  those  who  have  become 
weary  of  struggling  against  powerful  influences  adverse  to  their 
Christian  fidelity,  and  who  are  gradually,  and  perhaps  almost 
unconsciously  yielding ;  whose  reverence  for  Christ  is  gradually 
diminishing,  Avhose  zeal  for  His  honour  is  gradually  cooling, 
whose  resistance  to  what  is  anti-Christian  is  gradually  becoming 
less  resolute;  of  men  who  are  gradually  being  carried  away 
from  the  great  objects  of  Christian  faith  and  hope — like  a  boat 
whose  head  has  been  kept  against  the  stream  hour  after  hour, 
but  in  which  the  rowers  are  almost  exhausted,  and  which  has 
now  begun  to  drift  back  again. 

Is  there  not  something  like  this  in  very  many  of  us  ?  The 
influences  adverse  to  a  pure,  and  healthy,  and  vigorous  religious 
life  among  ourselves,  are  indeed  very  different  from  those  by 
which  these  Jewish  Christians  were  nearly  overcome.  We  are 
in  danger  of  being  carried  by  the  current,  not  into  another 
religion,  but  into  what  is  surely  much  worse — into  mere  world- 
liness,  and  neglect  of  God  altogether.  We  too  may  be 
"divertedi'  from  the  things  which  we  have  heard,  by  the  con- 
stant stress  of  thoughts  and  occupations  from  which  we  can 


j6  Drifii)ig  from  CJirist. 

hardly  escape,  but  which  it  is  our  duty  to  master.  The  mind 
and  the  heart  may  be  gradually  filled  with  inferior  interests 
until  the  love  of  Christ  seems  wholly  quenched,  and  we 
become  as  completely  secular  in  thought  and  feeling,  as  though 
we  had  never  believed  at  all.  It  may  be  continuous  trouble, 
it  may  be  quiet  and  uninterrupted  happiness,  it  may  be  eager 
devotion  to  business,  it  may  be  a  fierce  struggle  against  poverty 
and  misfortune,  it  may  be  sudden,  and  unexpected,  and  in- 
toxicating commercial  success,  it  may  be  intellectual  activity 
and  excitement,  it  may  be  absorption  in  public  affairs,  nay,  it 
may  be  incessant  activity  in  religious  work ;  anything,  every- 
thing, that  so  occupies  the  mind  as  to  leave  little  time,  or 
little  strength,  or  little  inclination,  for  giving  "  earnest  heed  "  to 
the  things  which  we  have  heard,  places  us  in  the  same  danger 
as  that  of  which  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  warns  the  Christian 
Hebrews  of  his  own  time.  We  are  likely  to  drift  away  from 
the  highest  objects  of  faith  and  love,  and  then  to  us  the 
startling  question  is  addressed — "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we 
neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  " 

H. 

Consider  the  duty  which  is  inculcated.  We  must  ^' give 
earnest  heed"  to  the  things  we  have  heard,  we  must  not  neglect, 
— 7ve,  who  are  Christians  already — must  not  neglect  "  the  great 
salvation."  I  believe  it  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  absolute 
importance  of  the  first  act  of  the  soul  in  forsaking  sin,  choosing 
God's  service,  and  trusting  to  the  atonement  and  grace  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  forgiveness  and  for  eternal  life.  But  I 
cannot  conceal  from  myself,  I  ought  not  to  conceal  from  you, 
the  tremendous  importance  which  is  also  assigned  in  the  New 
Testament,  to  persevering  fidelity  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  a  happy  time,  no  doubt,  when  the  good  seed  which  has 
been  sown  in  the  heart,  instead  of  being  carried  away  by  the 
birds  of  the  air,  begins  to  germinate,  and  when  the  green  shaft 
begins  to  appears  above  the  dark  soil — but  we  are  told  that 
after  it  has  sprung  up  it  sometimes  withers  away  on  the  rock, 
because  it  has  not  much  earth ;  and  that  sometime  the  cares 
of  this  world  choke  the  word  so  that  it  becometh  unfruitful. 


Drifting  from  Christ.  37 

It  is  a  happy  time,  no  doubt,  when  a  man  first  ceases  to  do 
evil  and  learns  to  do  well,  but  it  is  only  by  patient  continuance 
in  well-doing,  that  he  can  hope  to  obtain  glory,  honour,  and 
immortality.  It  is  a  happy  moment  when  those  who  have 
lived  in  sin  escape  the  pollutions  of  the  world  through  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  but  if  after 
this,  they  are  again  entangled  therein  and  overcome,  "  the 
latter  end  is  worse  with  them  than  the  beginning.  For  it  had 
been  better  for  them  never  to  have  known  the  way  of  righteous- 
ness than  after  they  have  known  it  to  turn  from  the  holy  com- 
mandment delivered  unto  them."  * 

It  is,  therefore,  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  by  the  solitary  act 
of  faith  and  self-consecration  to  God's  service,  which  stands  at 
the  beginning  of  the  religious  life,  we  release  ourselves  from 
the  necessity  of  subsequent  exertion.  That  act  marks,  indeed, 
tlie  transition  of  the  soul  from  a  condition  of  danger  to  a 
condition  of  security ;  from  a  condition  of  hostility  to  God  to 
a  condition  of  friendship ;  but  not  a  transition  from  a  condition 
in  which  energetic  e.xertion  is  necessary  to  a  condition  of 
indolence  and  inactivity.  l"o  ];)reserve  and  maintain  what  is 
then  acquired,  demands  incessant  and  vigorous  effort.  At 
once,  God  listens  to  our  cry  for  mercy,  asking  no  service  from 
us  to  induce  Him  to  forgive ;  but  Vy'hen  we  are  pardoned  He 
does  require  us  to  be  most  diligent  and  painstaking  in  keeping 
His  commandments.  At  once,  God  listens  to  our  prayer  that 
He  will  permit  us  to  become  His  servants ;  but  to  do  His  will 
and  to  please  Him  perfectly,  demands  the  crucifixion  of  the 
flesh  and  a  perpetual  struggle  with  temptation.  It  is  necessary, 
if  we  would  be  saved,  not  merely  to  repent  once,  to  believe 
once,  to  stand  face  to  face  with  God  once,  but  to  "  give  earnest 
heed "  till  the  very  end  of  our  life,  to  the  things  we  have 
heard.  It  is  on  Christian  men  who  have  been  persecuted  for 
Christ's  sake,  that  the  inspired  writer  presses  the  momentous 
question,  "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  .salva- 
tion ?  " 

Nor  is  there  any  difticulty  in  understanding  what  is  meant  by 
our  giz'i/ig  earnest  heed.  It  means,  that  we  sliould  perpetuate 
'■  2  Peter  ii,  20-21. 


38  Drifting  from  Christ. 

and  increase  the  earnest  devotion  to  Christ,  and  to  all  that 
Christ  has  said  and  done,  which  marked  the  commencement  of 
our  Christian  life.  Take,  for  instance,  the  sense  of  danger, 
associated  with  the  sense  of  unforgiven  sin.  It  was  true  then, 
that  only  by  Jesus  Christ  could  we  be  delivered  from  ever- 
lasting destmction — it  is  just  as  true  now.  It  was  true  then 
that  by  the  life  and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  our  sins  were 
atoned  for;  and  all  the  wonder,  and  thankfulness,  and  joy, 
with  which  we  then  thought  of  His  sacrifice,  are  as  appropriate 
now  as  they  were  then.  It  is  still  true  that  we  need  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  sanctify  our  hearts.  The  work  of  Christ 
has  not  become  less  important  to  us;  His  love  is  not  less 
amazing ;  the  necessity  of  trusting  in  Him  is  not  diminished. 
It  is  by  permanent  faith  that  we  have  permanent  justification — 
by  permanent  unity  Avith  Christ  that  we  have  permanent 
spiritual  life.  Cease  to  believe,  and  again  you  are  "con- 
demned already."  Cease  to  abide  in  Him,  and  you  are  "  cast 
forth  as  a  branch;"  you  are  "withered;"  you  are  "burned." 
To  every  one  of  you,  no  matter  though  you  are  in  Church 
membership,  no  matter  though  your  repentance  of  sin,  years 
ago,  was  deep  and  genuine,  no  matter  though  your  faith  in 
Christ  was  firm  and  strong,  your  love  for  Him  fervent,  your 
devotion  to  Him  apostolic — to  every  one  of  you,  I  say,  that  it 
is  still  necessary  to  "  give  earnest  heed  to  the  things  you  have 
heard,"  for  "how  shall  Ave  escape  if  we  neglect  "so  great 
salvation  ?  " 

III. 

Consider  noAv  the  motives  for  giving  this  earnest  heed. 

(i)  This  salvation  has  been  proclaimed  to  us  by  the  Lord 
Himself,  and  the  greatness  of  His  dignity  is  a  motive  for  giving 
"earnest  heed"  to  it.  In  the  previous  chapter,  the  writer 
appeals  to  the  long  series  of  divine  revelations  Avhich  had 
covered  many  previous  centuries,  in  order  to  exalt  and  to 
illustrate  the  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Prophets  were 
but  the  servants  of  God,  and  brought  to  men  only  fragmentary 
intimations  of  His  will.  Angels  themselves,  Hke  the  wind  and 
the  lightning,  are  but  His  messengers.     He  has  spoken  to  us 


Drifting  from  Christ.  39 

now  by  One  whom  even  the  angels  are  commanded  to  worship, 
who  is  the  brightness  of  His  glor>',  the  express  image  of  His 
]ierson ;  by  One  who  created  all  things,  and  upholds  them  still 
by  the  word  of  His  power ;  by  One,  who  having  purged  our 
sins,  is  made  Heir  of  all  things,  and  is  seated  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Majesty  on  High.  Yes,  it  is  He—GoA.  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  who  speaks ;  who  speaks  to  us,  as  he  spake  to  the  men 
that  lived  in  Judea  and  Galilee  eighteen  hundred  years  ago. 
We  still  read  His  very  words ;  we  see  Him  still  revealing  the 
Father,— in  His  gentleness  to  human  sorrow,  in  His  pity  for 
human  weakness,  in  the  welcome  He  gives  to  the  most 
wretched  and  profligate  that  repent  of  sin  and  appeal  to  Him 
for  help,  in  the  agony  of  Gethsemane,  and  the  sufferings  of  the 
cross,  in  which  divine  love  plunges  into  the  depths  of  human 
misery  that  sin  may  be  atoned  for  and  the  human  soul  be 
restored  to  God.  It  is  ZTf— who  speaks  to  us ;  to  m  who  have 
l)elieved  for  years,  as  well  as  to  those  who  have  never  believed 
at  all ;  to  us,  this  morning,  after  years  of  religious  profession, 
as  He  spake  to  us  years  ago,  warning  us  of  our  danger,  re- 
proving us  for  our  sin,  and  imploring,  commanding  us  to 
receive  forgiveness  and  eternal  life.  We,  above  all  men— we, 
His  servants,  are  bound  to  listen. 

And  it  is  the  living  Christ  that  speaks  to  us.  I  cannot  but 
feel  that  the  religious  life  of  Christendom  has  suffered  grievous 
harm  from  the  constant  representation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  by 
artists,  poets,  and  preachers,  in  the  weakness  and  humiliation 
of  His  death  on  the  cross.  In  the  Romish  Church,  the  heart 
is  scarcely  ever  permitted  to  escape  from  His  dying  agonies. 
Day  after  day,  generation  after  generation,  He  is  crucified 
afresh,  and  His  shame  is  perpetuated.  Men  look  upon  Him 
in  those  dreadful  hours  when  He  was  crowned  only  with 
thorns,  when  His  sceptre  was  a  reed,  when  an  imperial  robe 
was  thrown  upon  Him  in  mockery,  when  He  stood  as  a 
criminal  before  an  earthly  ruler,  when  the  cruel  instruments  of 
ecclesiastical  tjTanny  were  permitted  to  heap  upon  Him  insult 
and  scorn,  when  the  rabble  of  a  degraded  nation  triumphed 
over  His  apparent  discomfiture,  when  He  was  deserted  by  His 
friends,  when  even  the  Divine  glory  was  unable  to  penetrate 


40  Drifting  from  Christ. 

the  dense  clouds  of  suffering  and  disaster  into  \\hich  He 
entered  for  the  salvation  of  mankind.  We  hear  Him  asking 
for  vinegar  to  relieve  His  burning  thirst ;  crying  out,  in  the 
bitterness  of  His  soul,  because  the  light  of  God's  countenance 
is  hidden  from  Him.  God  forbid  that  we  should  ever  cease  to 
speak  of  having  redemption  in  His  blood.  We  are  not 
ashamed  of  the  cross ;  to  us  it  is  the  symbol  of  triumph  and 
tlie  memorial  of  salvation  ;  but  it  is  not  fitting  that  we  should 
forget  the  glory  which  preceded,  or  the  glory  which  was  to 
follow.  He  is  no  longer  in  Gethsemane,  no  longer  on  the 
cross,  no  longer  in  Joseph's  sepulchre.  We  are  adoring,  not  a 
li\ing  Being,  but  a  creation  of  our  own  fancy,  when  we  pray  to 
a  Christ  crowned  with  thorns.  He  has  resumed  His  former 
glory.  He  reigns  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  He  wears  the 
signs  of  the  most  awful  and  august  authority.  "  How  shall  we 
escape,"  if,  when  He  speaks,  we  refuse  to  listen  ? 

(2)  There  is  another  reason  for  "giving  earnest  heed  to  the 
things  we  have  heard  " — the  greatness  of  the  salvation  of  which 
Christ  has  spoken  to  us,  and  speaks  still. 

Every  time  we  invoke  the  Divine  mercy,  our  impressions  of 
the  wonderfulness  of  the  redemption  accomplished  for  us  by 
Christ,  must  surely  be  intensified  and  deepened.  Violated 
\o\vs,  broken  purposes,  relapses  into  sins  we  have  again  and 
again  renounced,  and  for  which  we  have  again  and  again 
sought  forgiveness,  do  not  render  our  condition  hopeless. 
They  may,  and  they  should,  fill  us  with  shame  and  bitter  self- 
reproach  ;  we  may  find  it  hard  to  look  God  in  the  face  and  tell 
Him  of  our  wickedness;  we  may  be  ready  to  think  it  im- 
possible that  He  should  still  be  Avilling  to  pardon  ;  but  as  soon 
as  we  appeal  to  His  mercy,  our  sins,  which  are  "  as  scarlet," 
become  "  white  as  snow." 

Nor  are  we  merely  tolerated  in  God's  presence,  permitted  to 
look  upon  His  glory  from  afar,  appointed  to  obscure  duties, 
and  called  by  an  inferior  name.  The  open  vision  of  God's 
face,  the  royal  priesthood,  the  Divine  sonship,  are  ours  still, 
after  repeated,  aggravated,  and  inexcusable  offences. 

We  may  have  resisted,  grieved,  quenched  the  Holy  Ghost, 
but  the  grace  which  cancels  our  guilt  grants  us  again  "  the 


Drifting  from  Christ.  41 

baptism  of  fire."  Yes,  though  after  we  beUeved,  we  were 
sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  and  though  through 
our  folly  and  weakness  Ave  have  almost  banished  Him  from  our 
hearts,  there  is  still  possible  to  us,  not  only  ultimate  escape 
from  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men,  but  the  recovery  in  this 
world  of  the  image  of  God,  perfect  union  with  Christ,  the 
fulness  of  life  and  power  and  joy. 

It  is  a  "great  salvation"  Avhich  we  are  charged  not  to 
neglect.  We  know  it.  Already  we  have  trembled  at  the 
prospect  of  the  final  judgment  and  the  terrors  which  lie 
beyond  ;  we  were  once  among  "  the  wicked,"  "  reserved  unto 
the  day  of  destruction ; "  we  were  in  fear  of  "  the  outer  dark- 
ness," "  the  terrible  tempest,"  "  the  indignation  and  wrath, 
tribulation  and  anguish,"  "  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ; "  and 
we  can  recall  the  blessed  rest  which  we  found  in  the  Divine 
mercy,  "  the  peace  passing  all  understanding,"  our  triumphant 
hope  of  everlasting  glory.  We  were  guilty,  and  God  freely 
pardoned  us.  We  were  His  enemies,  and  He  gave  us  "  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God."  We  were  corrupt  and  impure, 
and  He  gave  us  "a  new  heart"  and  "a  right  spirit."  We 
received  "  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation."  "We  rejoiced 
"  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God."  Heaven  was  not  afar  off.  We 
saw  "  the  holy  cit}',  the  new  Jerusalem,  coming  doAvn  from 
God  out  of  heaven ; "  we  passed  through  its  gates ;  we  were 
conscious  that  already  we  had  come  to  "  the  festal  assembly  of 
angels,"  and  '"'to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,"  and 
that  we  were  "  blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ." 

After  such  experiences  as  these,  with  the  unseen  world 
revealed  to  us,  the  blessedness  of  heaven  already  ours,  what 
plea  can  be  urged,  what  palliation,  what  excuse,  for  drifting 
back  to  our  old  life  ?  The  thanksgivings  of  earlier  days,  our 
unforgotten  joys,  our  testimony  to  others  concerning  "the 
fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,"  condemn  us. 
AA'e  are  neglecting  a  "great  salvatioitr 

(3)  f'inally,  if  we  continue  to  "neglect,"  there  can  be  no 
escape  for  us  from  a7i  intolerable  doom.  This  is  the  "great 
salvation  ; "  there  is  no  other.     We  have  not  to  speculate  this 


42  Drifting  from  Christ. 

morning  on  the  future  condition  of  those  who  have  never 
heard  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  to  whom  the  gospel  has 
been  presented  under  such  a  dark  disguise  that  it  is  not 
wonderful  they  refuse  to  give  any  heed  to  it,  or  whose  in- 
tellectual idiosyncrasies  have  made  it  almost  impossible  for 
them  to  receive  the  theory  of  the  Christian  faith,  or  who,  from 
the  miserable  influences  under  which  they  have  lived  from  their 
childhood,  have  lost  nearly  every  moral  element  to  which  the 
gospel  appeals.  Nor  are  we  considering  how  those  can 
"escape"  who,  with  no  such  reasons  for  mibelief  as  these,  have 
uniformly  and  persistently  rejected  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

But  "  how  shall  we  escape," — 7uc  who  once  believed  ;  wc 
who  were  once  forgiven ;  7ac  who  were  once  renewed  ;  zoc  who 
have  seen  the  face  of  Christ  and  heard  his  welcome  into  the 
household  of  faith  ;  7C't'  who,  in  addition  to  all  the  external 
proofs  of  the  divine  commission  of  the  Lord,  have  had  the 
consciousness  of  the  power  He  exerts  over  the  soul  in  awaken- 
ing a  new  life,  giving  strength  to  overcome  the  world,  and  to  do 
the  will  of  God  ?  "  How  shall  7uc  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  ?"  Can  we  hope  that  God  will  pardon  our  sin  ?  It  is 
Crod's  pardon  to  which  we  are  becoming  indifferent.  Or  can 
we  hope  that  He  will  give  us  a  better  mind  ?  He  has  already 
renewed  us,  but  we  are  actually  resisting  His  grace,  and  sinking 
into  "  the  second  death."  "  How  shall  we  escape  7'  A  law 
transgressed,  still  leaves  an  appeal  to  mercy ;  but  for  those  who 
have  received  mercy  and  who  now  reject  it,  there  is  nothing  but 
"a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation." 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  MAN. 

•■  For  unto  Ihe  angels  hath  He  not  put  in  subjection  the  world  to  come  whereof 
we  speak,"  &c.— Hf.brews  ii,  5-9. 

How  difficult  it  is  to  unite  in  one  firm  and  harmonious  con- 
ception, the  true  divinity  and  the  true  humanity  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  is  felt  by  all  tlioughtful  Christians.  But  the 
difficulty  must  have  pressed  with  unparalleled  force  upon  those 
Jev.-ish  believers  to  whom  this  Epistle  was  written.  For  the 
apostles  themselves,  however,  who  had  known  Christ,  as  well  as 
for  their  Gentile  converts  in  lands  remote  from  Judea,  the  task 
was  far  easier. 

Of  what  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  in  His  human  nature, 
Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and  the  rest  of  the  original 
apostles,  could  not  fail  to  have  a  very  definite  conception.  The 
features  of  His  countenance.  His  height.  His  dress.  His  voice, 
His  gestures,  were  perfectly  familiar  to  them.  To  the  end  of 
their  life  they  would  remember  when  they  first  heard  of  Him 
as  a  new  teacher  who  had  risen  up  in  Nazareth  ;  and  how,  before 
they  saw  Him,  they  talked  to  their  friends  about  the  reports  of 
His  goodness  and  wisdom  which  were  creating  excitement  all 
through  Galilee.  They  would  remember,  with  imperishable 
distinctness,  the  place  and  the  day  they  met  Him  for  the  first 
time  and  all  the  circumstances  of  their  meeting  ;  they  would 
remember  His  appearance  as  He  sat  with  them  in  their  boats, 
as  He  walked  with  them  on  the  shore  of  the  Lake,  as  He  spoke 
to  them  and  to  the  people  on  the  hill-side,  as  He  went  with 
them  up  to  the  annual  feasts  ;  they  would  remember  eating  and 
drinking  with  Him,  sitting  with  Him  in  the  house  of  Lazarus  at 
Bethany,  and  in  the  upper  chamber  at  Jerusalem  ;  they  would 


44  ^'^^^'  Dignity  of  ]\Ian. 

have  engraven  on  their  very  hearts  His  looks,  His  tones,  when 
Judas  kissed  Him  in  the  garden,  and  when  He  was  taken  to  be 
crucified  on  Calvaiy.  Every  recollection  of  His  human  nature 
and  life  must  have  been  intensely  and  vividly  instinct. 

On  the  other  hand,  He  had  produced  upon  them,  from  the 
first,  the  impression  of  a  mysterious  dignity,  which  prepared 
them  for  the  subsequent  discovery  of  His  true  greatness.  His 
miracles  were  wrought  with  an  authority  which  filled  them  Avith 
awe.  He  taught  as  one  in  whom  God  was  speaking.  Again 
and  again  He  had  forgiven  sins.  He  had  claimed  unity  with  the 
Father,  and  they  had  felt  that  in  this  there  was  nothing  to 
shock  or  to  startle  them,  for  the  claim  was  in  perfect  harmony 
with  His  bearing  and  character.  Some  of  them  had  seen  His 
person  radiant  with  glory  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration. 
All  of  them  had  seen  Him  after  His  resurrection,  and  had 
gazed  on  Him  with  reverence  and  wonder  as  He  ascended 
into  heaven.  His  humanity  was  most  real  to  every  one  of 
them;  and  every  one  of  them  had  been  in  direct  contact  witli 
those  indefinable  personal  influences,  as  well  as  witnessed  those 
irresistible  supernatural  proofs,  which  constrained  them  to 
believe  that  He  was  also  Divine.  They  surrendered  neither 
side  of  the  truth ;  they  not  only  believed  both  with  a  stedfast 
and  immoveable  confidence — they  were  under  the  power  of 
both. 

The  Gentile  converts  in  Rome  and  Corinth  and'  Galatia. 
would  also  be  able  to  hold  firmly  both  the  humanity  and  the 
Divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Their  conceptions  of  His 
human  life,  which  was  passed  in  a  land  few  of  them  had  ever 
seen,  were  not  much  more  vivid  than  our  own ;  and  their  idea 
of  God,  in  consequence  of  their  heathen  education,  was  not 
very  lofty :  moreover,  it  was  no  new  thing  to  them  to  think  of 
a  Divine  person  as  living  a  human  life  and  performing  human 
actions  :  their  very  heathenism  had  prepared  them  for  this 
article  of  the  Christian  faith. 

But  the  Jewish  converts  in  Palestine,  who  had  not  known 
Christ,  were  in  a  different  position.  Theii-  conceptions  of  His 
humanity  were  extremely  vi\id.  He  had  lived  in  their  own 
countr)',  in  the  very  towns  in  which  they  lived  themselves. 


The  Dignity  of  Man.  45 

There  were  houses  standing  in  which  He  had  eaten  and  in 
which  He  had  slept.  Some  of  them,  no  doubt,  liad  seen  Him, 
though  they  had  not  known  Him  intimately  enough  to  receive 
the  same  mysterious  impression  of  His  dignity  which  had  been 
given  to  the  apostles.  They  knew  people  who  had  talked  with 
Him,  and  who  remained  unbelievers.  His  relatives  were  living 
among  them  still.  The  judgment-hall,  in  which  their  worst 
criminals  were  still  condemned,  w^as  the  place  where  He  had 
been  tried  for  sedition.  Their  own  priests  had  clamoured  for 
His  blood.  Their  own  governors  had  condemned  Him  to  die. 
They  bcUn'cd  He  was  Divine ;  overwhelming  evidence  had 
brought  them  to  tha:t  conviction ;  but  they  were  surrounded 
every  day  and  all  the  year  through  with  what  reminded  them  of 
the  darkest  circumstances  of  His  humiliation.  His  humanity, 
in  its  poverty  and  suffering  and  shame,  was  most  real  to  them ; 
aiid  their  thoughts  of  this  were  not  modified  by  those  manifes- 
tations of  His  Divinity  which  were  interwoven  with  all  that  the 
apostles  remembered  of  His  earthly  history.  His  Godhead 
they  believed ;  His  humanity  they/^"//,  in  all  its  saddest,  weakest, 
most  humiliating  attributes  and  manifestations. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  to  them  the  Divine  gioiy 
was  obscured  by  the  human  weakness  and  sorrow.  In  their 
creed  they  acknowledged  both,  but  their  hearts,  like  our  own, 
were  more  powerfully  moved  by  what  they  saw  than  b\'  what 
they  believed ;  and  all  that  they  saw  gave  a  cruel  and  dis- 
couraging emphasis  and  prominence  and  reality  to  Christ's 
humiliation.  With  their  recollections  of  the  glorious  angelic 
appearances  in  connection  with  the  earlier  revelations  of  God 
to  the  Jewish  race,  it  was  harder  for  them  than  we  can  imagine, 
to  escape  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  Christiai^  truth, 
though  they  believed  it,  that  God  had  been  manifest  in  the 
flesh. 

How  does  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  deal  with  their  diihculty  ? 
We  have  seen  already  that,  in  the  first  chapter,  he  recalls  to 
their  minds  the  Divine  sonship  and  regal  dignity  of  the  I^ord 
Jesus,  which  conferred  on  Him  a  glory  infinitely  transcending 
that  of  the  angels  of  God ;  and  now  He  turns  to  His  human 
nature,  and   shows  that  man,   according  to  the   Divine  idea 


46  TJic  Dignity  of  Man. 

of  humanity,  is  not  to  be  thought  of  as  placed  at  an  im- 
measurable distance  below  angelic  dignity.  His  endeavour  is 
to  rescue  human  nature  from  that  dishonour  which  made  the 
"yeivish  Christians  feel  it  so  much  harder  to  recognize  Divinity 
lohen  revealed  in  the  man  Christ  J^csus,  than  when  revealed  in 
angelic  forms. 

He  begins  this  new  process  of  thought,  by  affirming  that  under 
the  new  constitution  of  things  of  which  he  is  speaking — and 
which  had  been  spoken  of  in  former  times  as  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven" — "the  last  days" — '■''the  world  to  come'''' — angels  had 
not  been  appointed  to  authority  and  dominion.  In  the  material 
universe,  according  to  the  belief  of  the  Jews — a  belief  deriving 
some  slight  sanction  from  certain  passages  in  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures— angels  had  been  invested  with  great  and  honourable 
functions.  They  controlled  or  superintended  the  action  both 
of  the  kindly  and  terrible  powers  of  nature.  They  smote 
nations  with  pestilence.  They  governed  the  motions  of  the 
winds.  They  had  charge  of  individual  men.  Empires  were 
under  their  rule. 

The  incidental  and  sometimes  obviously  metaphorical 
language  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  was  so  strained  by  rabbinical 
interpreters,  that  a  mighty  host  of  spiritual  beings  were  formally 
enthroned,  with  distinct  and  separate  powers  over  the  visible 
world,  and  over  the  life  of  man.  AVithout  pausing  to  dis- 
tinguish how  much  truth  and  how  much  superstition  c'o-existed 
in  this  belief,  the  writer  simply  declares  that  "  the  world  to 
come,"  by  which — as  I  intimated  just  now — he  means  the  new 
order  of  things  since  the  establishment  of  the  Messiah's  king- 
dom, is  not  subjected  to  angelic  government.  Throughout 
God's  previous  revelations,  alike  in  the  definite  prophecies  of 
Holy  Scripture,  and  in  the  institutions  which  God  established 
for  the  religious  discipline  and  education  of  man,  no  hint  had 
been  given  that  angels  were  to  be  supreme  when  the  divine 
purposes  were  consummated  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 
"  Unto  the  angels  hath  He  not  put  in  sid>Jection  the  joorld  to  come 
of  which  we  speak." 

He  then  proceeds  to  shew  that  in  the  ancient  Scriptures  a 
lofty  dignity  had  been  claimed  for  man ;  he  also  affirms  that 


The  Dignity  of  Man.  47 

this  dignity  had  not  been  actually  and  perfectly  realized ;  and 
he  points  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Man  in  whom  all  that  had 
ever  been  asserted  concerning  the  honourableness  of  human 
nature  was  gloriously  fulfilled. 

I. 

He  shows  that  in  the  ancient  Scriptures  a  lofty  dignity  had 
been  claimed  for  man.  "  One  in  a  certain  place  tcstijicth,"  (the 
quotation  is  from  the  8th  Psalm),  "  What  is  man  thatTvioxj  art 
mindful  of  him,  or  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  him .?" 
Human  weakness,  ignorance,  and  sin,  made  it  appear  to  David 
most  wonderful  that  the  Great  and  the  Holy  God  should 
manifest  so  profound  an  interest  in  our  race ;  that  we  should 
be,  as  we  evidently  are,  the  constant  objects  of  the  Divine 
thought,  solicitude,  and  care  ;  that  we  should  receive  direct 
communications  from  heaven  ;  that  God  should  be  troubled  by 
our  sin  and  rejoice  over  our  right-doing  ;  should  care  for  our 
love,  and  confidence,  and  obedience.  The  Jewish  Scriptures 
taught  that  the  most  magnificent  and  splendid  objects  m  the 
universe  were  created  by  the  Divine  power  ;  that  the  Divine 
perfections  are  infinite  ;  and  the  Divine  blessedness  complete  ; 
—What  then  is  man,  that  God,  who  is  so  great,  should  have 
any  thought  or  care  for  him  ? 

We  ought  to  lay  a  firmer  hold  than  ever  on  the  truth  which 
occasione'd  this  exclamation.  The  whole  current  of  modern 
thought  runs  against  it.  Men  are  thinking  so  much  of  the  laws 
of  nature,  which  are  only  God's  settled  modes  of  blessing  and 
caring  for  His  creatures,  that  the  idea  of  His  free  and  personal 
love  for  every  human  soul,  and  of  His  interest  in  the  separate 
and  individual  history  of  every  man,  is  being  lost ;  and  we  are 
gradually  coming  to  think  of  ourselves  as  surrounded  only  by  a 
complicated  and  tremendous  system  of  material  forces,  which . 
work  on  grimly,  relentlessly,  unpityingly,  from  eternity  to 
eternity,  taking  no  knowledge  of  the  effect  of  their  vast  and 
ceaseless  activity,  blessing  men  without  joy,  cursing  them  with- 
out sorrow.  The  Jew  had  a  deeper  wisdom,  and  a  wisdom 
which,  if  it  be  lost,  is  ill-exchanged  for  all  that  natural  science 
can  tell  us  of  the  construction  of  the  material  universe.     The 


48  The  Dignity  of  JlTan. 

Jew  would  have  been  shocked  if  he  had  been  told  that  the  God 
of  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  had  constructed  a  huge 
machine  and  simply  left  it  to  work ;  and  that  there  was  no 
Toom  for  His  own  direct  interference  to  relieve  the  sorrows,  to 
strengthen  the  weakness,  to  guide  the  conduct  of  man.  Those 
lines  of  the  representative  poet  of  an  artificial  and  unbelieving 
age,  which  teach  the  doctrine  of  the  calm  indifference  of  the 
Most  High,  and  afhrm  that 

"  He  sees  with  equal  eye,  as  God  of  all, 
A  hero  perish,  or  a  sparrow  fall : 
Atoms  or  systems  into  niin  hurled — 
And  now  a  bubble  burst,  and  now  a  world, — " 

those  lines,  I  say,  have  no  parallel  in  the  inspired  songs  of  the 
Jewish  people  ;  their  poets  held  a  loftier  and  a  nobler  creed  : — 

"  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh 
me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures  :  He  leadeth  me  beside  the 
still  waters."  "  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  tlie 
shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil  :  for  Thou  art  with  me ; 
Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they  comfort  me."  "  In  the  time  of 
trouble  He  shall  hide  me  in  His  pavilion."  "  He  bindeth  up 
the  broken  in  heart."  "  He  is  the  husband  of  the  widow,  and 
the  Father  of  the  fatherless."  "  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are 
ordered  by  the  Lord,  and  He  delighteth  in  his  way."  '•  Like  as 
a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear 
Him." 

Nor  is  this  Divine  interest  in  human  affairs  all.  In  that  same 
Psalm  from  which  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  has  already  quoted, 
it  is  also  declared,  "  Thou  inadest  him  " — that  is,  man — "  l>i/t  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels.  Thou  crownedst  him  with  glory  and 
honour ;  and  didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  Thine  hands.  Thou 
hast  put  all  thins;s  in  subjection  under  his  feet."  And  this  is  not 
a  doctrine  peculiar  to  the  Psalmist ;  it  is  not  merely  the  excite- 
ment and  rapture  of  genius  which  affirm  it.  Read  the  earliest 
pages  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  you  will  discover  that  in  the 
record  of  creation  it  is  said  that  man  was  made  in  the  image  of 
God,  was  appointed  to  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all 


Tlic  Dignity  of  Man.  49 

the  earth ;  and  he  was  charged  by  God  to  subdue  the  earth, 
which  had  been  made  his  kingdom. 

The  dignity  originally  conferred  upon  human  nature  may  be 
illustrated  in  several  particulars. 

(i)  According  to  the  Jewish  faith,  this  material  universe, 
whatever  other  purposes  were  to  be  answered  by  it,  was  made 
for  man ;  to  be  his  home,  to  develope  his  physical  powers,  to 
stimulate  his  intellectual  faculties,  to  be  a  test  and  discipline  of 
his  moral  character.  This  was  the  old  faith  of  Jewish  patriarchs, 
and  prophers,  and  psalmists  ;  and  it  is  mine.  I  refuse  to  be 
reduced  to  the  same  rank,  to  be  placed  in  the  same  order,  as  the 
cattle  that  browse  on  the  hills,  or  the  fish  that  people  the  sea. 
I  assert  my  supremacy.  I  believe  that  I  have  received  from 
the  hand  of  God  crown  and  sceptre,  and  that  although  other 
designs  may  be  accomplished  by  the  existence  of  the  material 
and  living  things  around  me,  they  are  intended  to  serve  me. 
The  sun  shines,  that  I  may  see  the  mountains  and  the  woods 
and  the  flashing  streams,  and  that  I  may  do  the  work  by  which 
I  live.  For  me,  the  rain  falls,  and  the  dews  silently  distil, — to 
cherish  the  corn  which  grows  for  my  food,  to  soften  the  air  I 
breathe,  and  to  keep  the  beauty  of  the  world  fresh  and  bright 
on  which  I  rejoice  to  look.  The  music  of  the  birds  is  for  me, 
and  the  perfume  of  flowers.  For  me  it  was,  that  forests  grew  in 
ancient  times  and  have  since  been  hardened  into  coal ;  for  me, 
there  are  veins  of  iron  and  of  silver  penetrating  the  solid  earth  ; 
and  for  me,  there  are  rivers  whose  sands  are  gold.  The  beasts 
of  the  earth  were  meant  to  do  my  work  ;  sheep  and  oxen 
are  given  me  for  food.  Fire  and  hail  and  the  stormy  wind 
were  meant  to  serve  me.  I  have  authority  to  compel  the 
lightning  to  be  the  messenger  of  my  thought,  and  the  servant  of 
my  will.  Man  is  placed  over  the  works  of  God's  hands  ;  for 
those  works  were  mecfnt  to  minister  to  man's  life,  man's  culture, 
and  man's  happiness. 

(2)  Man  can  understand  God's  works.  He  can  trace  the 
paths  of  the  planets  and  calculate  the  rapidity  of  their  motions. 
He  studies  the  structure  of  animals  ;  knows  the  place  and  the 
uses  of  bone,  and  muscle,  and  nerve  ;  perceives  the  purposes  to 
which  beast,   and  bird,  and  fish  are  unconsciously  led,  by  the 

E 


50  TJic  Dignity  of  Man. 

guidance  of  instinct ;  discovers  the  mutual  relations  and  inter- 
dependence of  all  the  multifarious  races  of  living  things. 
Manifestly,  this  intelligence  confers  on  man  a  great  superiority 
over  all  the  unintelligent  works  of  the  Divine  power.  To  him, 
not  to  them,  are  revealed  the  secrets  of  their  nature,  and  the 
end  of  their  existence. 

(3)  But  he  has  a  third  and  still  higher  claim  to  supremacy. 
Man  was  made  in  "  the  image  of  God."  In  the  creation  which 
surrounds  us,  there  are  marvellous  manifestations  of  the  Divine 
attributes.  A  power  to  which  we  can  give  no  other  name  than 
Omnipotence,  a  knowledge  which  we  cannot  but  call  infinite,  a 
wisdom  whose  depths  are  unfathomable,  and  an  inexhaustible 
goodness,  are  revealed  in  the  heavens  above,  and  in  the  earth 
beneath.  But  in  man,  God  has  given  existence  to  a  creature  in 
whom  we  recognise  not  merely  the  operations  of  the  Divine 
attributes,  but  the  attributes  themselves,  though  in  a  less  noble 
form  and  an  inferior  degree.  There  is  the  manifestation  of 
wisdom,  of  power,  and  of  love,  in  the  other  Avorks  of  God  ;  but 
in  man  there  is  wisdom  itself,  power  itself,  love  itself 

{4)  Again,  the  sun  and  moon  and  all  the  stars  are  bound  b}' 
laws  of  Avhich  they  are  unconscious,  and  which  they  cannot 
transgress  ;  and  the  movements  of  the  lower  animals  are  guided 
by  impulses  and  instincts  over  which  they  have  no  reasonable 
and  moral  control.  But  man  is  like  God  in  this, — that  he  pos- 
sesses freedom  to  choose  the  objects  of  his  life,  and  the  means 
by  which  he  \nll  secure  them.  Let  the  iron  hand  of  Necessit}- 
control  all  things  besides — the  eagle  in  her  daring  flight,  the 
tumult  of  the  ocean,  the  dance  of  the  spray,  the  rush  of  the 
winds,  the  fury  of  the  storm, — the  will  of  man  stands  erect,  con- 
fronting and  defying  all  authority  and  all  power.  No  outward 
force  can  compel  it ;  no  inward  necessity  bind  it.  The  founda- 
tions of  that  throne  on  which  the  human  will  has  been  placed 
by  the  hand  of  the  Creator,  cannot  be  shaken  by  the  tremendous 
energies  which  rend  asunder  the  everlasting  hills.  A  solitar\' 
man  can  stand  against  a  million  ;  they  may  torture  his  physical 
frame  till  he  cries  aloud  in  his  agony,  but  the  whole  force  of  a 
great  empire  has  been  met  and  mastered  by  the  will  of  a  quiet 
scholar  and  of  a  feeble  woman.     God  has  given  to  the  human 


The  Dignity  of  Man.  5 1 

will  the  power  of  refusing  to  bow  before  His  own  greatness,  and 
of  disobeying  His  own  commands. 

This  imperial  faculty  it  is,  beyond  all  others,  which  stamps 
man  as  the  rightful  master  of  the  world.  He  alone  has  this 
indispensable  attribute  of  sovereignty.  All  creatures  besides 
are  in  bondage  to  irresistible  law  ;  he  alone  has  received  the  gift 
of  freedom.  "  Thou  crownedst  him  with  glory  and  honour,  and 
didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  Thy  hands  ;  Thou  has  put  all 
things  in  subjection  under  his  feet." 

This  was  God's  idea  of  human  nature ;  and  hence,  the 
possibility  and  reasonableness  of  the  Incarnation.  It  is  true 
that  man  is  lower  than  the  angels  by  the  limitation  of  some  of 
his  faculties  ;  but  he  was  made  in  the  image  of  God  ;  his  moral 
attributes  corresponded  to  the  Divine  perfections,  he  had  the 
gift  of  moral  freedom,  he  was  made  supreme  over  that  order  of 
things  to  which  he  belongs,  even  as  God  is  supreme  over  all. 

II. 

This  is  the  first  thought ;  the  second  is,  that  "  zue  see  not  yet 
all  things  put  wider  him."  Man's  sovereignty,  conferred  on  him 
originally  by  the  appointment  of  his  Creator,  has  not  been  fully 
realized.  How  miserably  he  has  come  short  of  it,  has  been 
shown  by  the  condition  of  all  nations  and  of  all  ages.  His 
freedom  has  been  manifested  in  his  violation  of  the  most  solemn 
and  imperative  obligations.  The  image  of  God  has  been  so 
defaced  that  it  has  almost  disappeared.  The  intellect  of  man 
has  sunk  into  a  chaos  of  ignorance  and  error,  and  instead  of 
rightly  understanding  the  universe,  he  has  constructed  a 
thousand  monstrous  theories  concerning  its  origin,  concerning 
the  very  structure  of  material  things,  concerning  his  o-wni  nature 
and  destiny.  The  commonest  laws  of  the  external  world 
remained  hidden  from  him  for  thousands  of  years,  and  remain 
hidden  even  now  from  the  immense  majority  of  his  race. 
Instead  of  being  the  master  of  the  inferior  creation,  he  has  been 
— and  to  a  large  extent,  continues  still — its  unhappy  victim. 
His  life  is  destroyed  by  the  poison  of  reptiles,  and  by  the  brute 
strength  of  beasts  of  prey.     The  vineyards  he  has  laboriously 


52  TJic  Dignity  of  Man. 

cultivated  he  cannot  protect  from  blight.  The  harvests  he  is 
ready  to  reap  are  wasted  by  destructive  rains.  On  the  land,  his 
cities  perish  by  earthquakes  :  on  the  sea,  his  ships  go  down  in 
the  storm.  His  health  is  ruined  and  his  moral  nature  corrupted 
by  the  strong  temptations  of  the  outward  world,  which  betray 
him  into  sensual  excesses.  He  has  come  to  be  so  humiliated 
and  degraded,  that  he  has  looked  up  to  the  moon  and  stars 
which  were  made  to  serve  him,  and  has  called  them  his  gods  ; 
he  has  placed  four-footed  beasts  and  creeping  things  in  the 
shrine  of  his  temples,  and  has  implored  them  to  avert  the 
calamities  he  dreaded,  and  to  bestow  on  him  the  blessings  for 
which  he  longed.  The '  traces  of  his  kingship  have  not  dis- 
appeared ;  slowly  and  painfully  in  one  province  of  his  dominions 
after  another,  especially  since  Christ  came,  and  in  the  lands  of 
Christendom,  he  has  been  winning  back  the  authority  he  had 
lost ;  but  his  hand  is  too  feeble  to  hold  the  sceptre,  and  on  all 
sides  the  subject  creation  is  in  open  revolt — revolt  which  he 
seems  often  unable  even  to  check,  and  is  quite  unable  to 
subdue.     "  We  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  JiimP 


in. 

It  might  be  said,  that  the  acknowledged  ruin  of  human  nature 
cancels  all  that  can  be  affirmed  concerning  man's  original  and 
native  dignity.  Though  free  from  sin  Himself,  Christ  was 
subject  to  the  infirmities  and  sufferings  which  had  come  upon 
men  in  consequence  of  sin.  He  appeared  on  the  earth,  not  in 
the  glorious  form  to  which  alone  the  description  of  the  Psalmist 
can  fully  apply,  but  oppressed  with  the  heavy  and  degrading 
burden  of  human  woe.  Man's  nature,  as  it  came  from  God  at 
first,  might  have  been  a  noble  thing,  and  his  position,  a  position 
of  splendid  supremacy ;  but  the  nature  had  been  injured,  and 
the  position  lost.  It  was  still  hard  to  think  of  humanity  as  a 
fitting  and  honourable  medium  for  the  revelation  of  God. 

This  brings  in  the  third  thought.  It  is  acknowledged  that 
man's  dominion  over  the  world  had  not  been  maintained  ;  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  seeing  the  signs  and  proofs  of  man's  weak- 
ness and  disgrace  \  but  we  turn  our  eyes  to  Jesus,  and  what  do 


The  Dignity  of  Man.  53 

we  behold  ?  He  is  truly  man  ;  He  was  made  inferior  to  angels  ; 
but  because  He  hath  suffered  death  He  is  crowned  with  glory 
and  honour,  and  His  exaltation  to  the  right  hand  of  God  was 
intended  to  redeem  and  rescue  the  whole  race  from  its  ruin,  and 
to  make  His  death  minister  to  the  immortal  life  and  blessedness 
of  every  man. 

In  other  words,  we  are  bound,  when  thinking  of  the  incarna- 
tion of  the  Divine  Word  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  consider 
not    merely    the    brief    history   of  the   thirty   years   between 
Bethlehem  and  the  cross.     A  believing  Jew  might  say,  I  am 
sorely  troubled,  spite  of  my  faith,  while  I  see  the  Lord  Jesus  m 
the  home  of  Joseph  and  Mary  at  Nazareth ;  while  I  see  Hun 
living  in  poverty  among  the  villages  of  Galilee,  without  a  place 
where  to  lay  His  head  ;  while  I  see  Him  hungering  when  He 
has  fasted  ;  sitting  in  weariness  by  the  well  of  Samaria,  because 
His  journey  has  been  long;  sleeping  in  the  ship,  because  He  is 
exhausted  by  His  public  labours  ;  while  I  see  him  agonising  m 
Gethsemane  ;  standing  at  the  judgment  seat  of  Pilate  ;  enduring 
the    mockery    of   the    soldiers    of   Herod;    hanging    on    the 
cross  ;   lying  in  Joseph's  sepulchre  -.—spite  of  my  faith  in  His 
Divinity,  there  are  times  when  I  cannot  feel  that  He  is  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh  ;  the  interior  glory  is  obscured  and  eclipsed 
by  the  visible  humiliation  :  He  has  been  loaded  with  all,  and 
more  than  all,  the  common  shame  and  suffering  of  humanity.  _ 
True,  rephes  the  inspired  writer,  this  human  life  on  earth  is 
far  from  being  the  royal  thing  it  was  meant  to  be  ;  and  Christ 
came  and  lived  it ;  but  remember  what  man  was  according  to 
God's  original  idea :  see  Christ  crowned,  as  the  reward  of  His 
suffering,  with  glory  and  honour,  then  tell  me  whether,  after  all, 
human  nature  may  not  be  wonderful  and  sublime. 

If  it  be  urged  that  though  in  His  own  person  He  may  have 
risen  to  a  splendid  height,  the  dishonour  of  universal  humanity 
still  clings  to  Him,  and  He  has  become  the  brother  of  a 
degraded  race,  still  it  is  answered  No  ;  He  has  received  His 
greatness  not  for  Himself  merely,  but  for  us  ;  He  has  become 
the  glorified  head  of  mankind  ;  so  that  His  death  might  be  the 
fountain  of  redemption  for  every  man. 

This,  I  believe,  is  the  pith  of  the  thought  in  these  remark- 


54  'I'J^c  Dignity  of  Man. 

able  verses ;  and,  as  I  need  hardly  remind  you,  the  full 
(levelopement  of  their  meaning  would  require  not  a  single 
sermon,  but  a  complete  theological  system ;  a  full  account  of 
the  Divine  idea  of  hurnan  nature,  of  the  results  of  human  sin, 
of  the  temporary  humiliation  of  Christ,  of  His  present  glory, 
of  the  relation  of  His  death  and  enthronement  at  God's  right 
hand  to  the  whole  human  race,  of  the  restoration  to  man,  in 
consequence  of  the  sufferings  and  victory  of  Christ,  of  all 
his  original  prerogatives  in  a  higher  form,  and  with  securities  of 
j)ermanence  which  they  did  not  possess  before. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  only  to  say,  that  in  ever}^  controversy 
in  which  the  Church  of  Christ  has  been  engaged  from  the 
earliest  days  of  her  history,  until  now,  she  has  been  contending 
for  the  honour  of  human  nature  as  well  as  for  the  glory  of  God  ; 
and  even  in  the  struggles  which  the  purer  ^Churches  of 
Christendom  have  maintained  with  the  more  corrupt,  the  two 
have  always  been  indissolubly  associated.  Looking  only  at 
the  more  formidable  foes  which  we  have  had  to  encounter, 
whose  enmity  has  been  directed  against  the  essential  elements 
of  our  faith,  this  is  most  manifestly  true. 

In  vindicating,  for  example,  the  Divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
we  are  not  only  claiming  for  Him  the  honour  which  is  His 
righteous  due,  but  we  are  claiming  for  the  human  race  the  most 
exalted  distinction, — for  we  are  maintaining  that  whatever 
ruin  may  have  come  upon  our  nature,  it  is  capable  of  being  the 
very  home  of  the  Godhead ;  and  that  whatever  may  be  our 
sins,  God  Himself  in  the  person  of  Christ,  has  become  the 
brother  of  us  all. 

Heresy  within  the  Church  and  a  false  philosophy  without  it, 
have  denied  the  corruption  of  humanity.  While  we  have  been 
asserting  the  honour  of  God  by  contending  that  only  His  power 
can  redeem  us  from  our  degradation,  we  have  been  asserting  at 
the  same  time  the  honour  of  man ; — declaring  our  conviction 
that  according  to  his  true  nature, — the  nature  God  gave  him  at 
first, — he  holds  a  more  exalted  rank  than  his  present  condition 
intimates.  They  would  have  us  believe  that  we  see  in  man  as 
he  now  is,  what  God  made  him,  that  he  has  not  sunk  beneath 


TJie  DignUy  of  Man.  55 

his  original  estate,  has  not  lost  his  proper  dignity ;  wc  contend 
that  however  great  man  may  be  now,  whatever  may  be  the 
lustre  of  his  genius,  whatever  may  be  the  nobility  of  his  moral 
impulses,  he  is  far  beneath  the  true  ideal  which  the  race  was 
created  to  fulfil— that  he  has  lost  his  ancient  glory,  but  through 
God's  grace  may  win  it  again. 

When  we  go  to  the  heathen  we  have  still  this  double  com- 
mission. While  we  charge  them,  in  the  name  of  the  Most  High, 
no  longer  to  withhold  their  adoration  from  the  true  God,  but  to 
love  and  serve  and  honour  Him  in  whom  they  live  and  move 
and  have  their  being,  we  are  also  telling  them  that  the  heroes 
of  their  ancient  story,  whose  high  achievements  have  won  for 
them  Divine  honours,  were  men  of  like  passions  with  them- 
selves, and  that  with  the  greatest  of  them  they  may  assert 
equality  of  birth  and  name ;  that  the  powers  of  nature  which 
they  reverence  and  dread,  and  the  birds  and  beasts  and  creeping 
things  they  have  made  their  gods,  have  been  placed  under  their  . 
feet,  to  be  ruled  over,  instead  of  worshipped,  and  that  man  is 
greater  than  them  all. 

Here  at  home,  in  all  the  multifarious  debates  with  which  our 
country  is  ringing,  we  are  still  fighting  the  batUe  at  once  of 
God  and  of  humanity.  Men  begin  discussions  on  the  claims  of 
Christ  by  telling  us  that  miracles  are  impossible,  that  the 
common  laws  of  the  universe  cannot  be  superseded  or  inter- 
rupted. While  demonstrating  the  reality  of  Christ's  wonderful 
works  and  maintaining  that  they  are  adequate  proofs  of  His 
Divine  commission,  we  have  also  to  assert  that  the  moral 
culture  and  discipline  of  the  human  race  are  in  God's  judgment 
of  higher  significance  than  the  steadfastness  of  natural  laws.  It 
was  for  our  sakes,  to  minister  to  our  life  and  happiness  and  to 
our  moral  discipline,  that  the  laws  of  nature  were  established, 
that  nature  itself  was  created ;  and  if  by  the  interruption  of 
those  laws  God  can  come  nearer  to  man  and  man  be  brought 
nearer  to  God,  they  shall  he  interrupted. 

Now,  at  last,  the  trustworthiness  of  Divine  revelation  is 
impeached  by  hasty  conclusions  from  newly-discovered  facts, 
some  of  which,  at  least,  have  been  most  imperfectly  verified, 
and  which,  if  they  are  all  true,  admit  of  another  interpretation— 


56  TJlc  Dignity  of  Man. 

conclusions  which  would  make  us  of  one  blood  with  the  ape 
and  the  gorilla — and  assign  a  common  origin  to  man,  the 
divinely-anointed  sovereign  of  the  world,  and  to  the  beasts 
which  were  made  to  drag  his  burdens  and  to  furnish  him  with 
food.  In  resisting  this  ignoble  theory,  we  are  the  champions 
of  the  dignity  of  mankind.  We  appeal  against  it  in  the 
name  of  humanity.  We  say,  that  while,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  apostles  of  error  are  excluding  the  presence  and 
activity  of  God  from  His  own  creation, — on  the  other,  they  are 
covering  man  with  dishonour,  and  renouncing  the  dignity  and 
supremacy  which  belong  to  our  race.  They  will  be  met  with  a 
learning  and  a  science  equal  to  their  own,  governed  by  sounder 
principles  and  applied  with  more  reverence  and  caution.  But 
we  also  appeal  to  the  instincts  of  our  common  nature  to  resent 
and  repel  the  outrage.  We  appeal  to  man's  self-respect,  to  his 
indestructible  consciousness  of  his  superior  origin  and  charac- 
teristic attributes.  We  invoke  the  noblest  principles  and 
jDassions  of  humanity.  Nor  are  we  doubtful  of  the  issue.  The 
last  conclusion  of  science  will  be  one  with  the  instinctive  faith 
of  the  soul.  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men 
to  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  earth ;  but  between  man  and  the 
inferior  creation  a  great  gulf  is  fixed.  "Thou  crownedst  him 
with  glory  and  honour" — who  shall  impeach  his  supremacy? 
"Thou  didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  thy  hands  :  Thou  hast 
put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet." 


CHRIST  PERFECTED  THROUGH  SUFFERINGS. 

"  For  it  became  Him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in 
bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  captain  of  their  salvation 
perfect  through  sufferings." — Hebrews  ii.  lo. 

In  the  second  half  of  this  chapter,  the  connexion  between 
the  sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  His  eternal  priesthood  is 
very  fully  unfolded ;  and  most  of  us  have  had  trouble  enough, 
to  be  thankful  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  whom  we  worship  as 
God  over  all,  blessed  for  evermore,  and  on  whom  our  faith  rests 
for  strength  to  bear  sorrow  with  patience,  as  well  as  for  the 
forgiveness  of  sin  and  everlasting  life,  was  once  tried  as  we  are. 
The  reality  of  His  sufferings  is  of  infinite  importance,  not  only 
in  relation  to  the  atonement  He  made  for  the  sin  of  the  world, 
and  as  a  test  and  proof  of  the  energy  of  His  love  for  man  and 
zeal  for  God,  but  as  establishing  between  ourselves  and  Him 
an  immortal  sympathy.  We  can  speak  to  Him  of  our  sorrows 
with  greater  freedom,  remembering  His  own ;  we  can  invoke 
His  aid  with  greater  confidence,  remembering  His  strong  cries 
and  tears ;  we  feel  the  surer  of  His  pity  and  merciful  help, 
because  by  personal  experience,  and  not  merely  as  our  Creator, 
"  He  knoweth  our  frame,  and  remembereth  that  we  are  dust." 

Perhaps  some  of  us  have  been  accustomed  to  quote  the 
words  of  the  text  as  though  they  were  intended  to  express  this 
most  precious  truth,  and  meant  that  the  human  excellencies  of 
Christ,  and  especially  His  capacity  of  sympathising  with  us  in 
our  trouble,  were  perfected  by  suffering. 

The  being  "  made  perfect "  in  this  verse  has  been  often 
regarded  as  equivalent  to  His  becoming  "a  merciful  and 
faithful  High  Priest,"  which  is  spoken  of  a  few  verses  further 
on.     But  this  is  not  exactly  what  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 


58  Christ  Perfected  through  Sufferings. 

intended.  The  word  "  to  be  made  perfect "  occurs  in  four  or 
five  places  in  this  Epistle, — sometimes  in  reference  to  ourselves, 
sometimes  in  reference  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  I  think 
it  is  intended,  in  every  case,  to  describe  the  attainment  of  a 
final,  permanent,  and  fully  developed  strength  and  glory.  It  is 
substantially  the  same  thing  as  that  which  is  spoken  of  in  the 
preceding  verse,  where  Christ  is  said  to  be  "  crowned  with  glory 
and  honour."  The  Old  Testament  saints,  without  us,  were  not 
to  be  "  made  perfect."  The  spirits  of  the  just  are  "  made 
perfect."  Christ  when  He  was  "made  perfect"  became  the 
author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them  that  obey  Him.  "  The 
law  maketh  men  high  priests  who  have  infirmity,  but  the  word  of 
the  oath,  which  was  since  the  law,  maketh  the  Son,  who  is 
consecrated — or  perfected — for  evermore." 

You  will  not  forget  that  the  inspired  writer,  in  that  part  of  the 
Epistle  which  we  have  already  examined,  has  been  striving  to 
prevent  the  gradual  drifting  back  to  Judaism  of  the  Hebrew 
Christians,  by  recalling  to  their  minds  the  Divine  dignity  and 
supreme  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  first  chapter  he 
shows  how  much  greater  He  is  than  the  angels ;  in  the  second, 
he  protests  against  the  supposition  that  the  nature  of  man  is  so 
far  inferior  to  the  nature  of  angels,  that  the  incarnation  is  to  be 
thought  of  with  revulsion  of  feeling,  though  the  manifestation  of 
God  in  angelic  forms  was  to  be  exulted  in,  as  conferring  singular 
honour  upon  the  old  Jewish  dispensation.  Man,  according  to 
God's  idea  of  him,  is  "  but  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,"  and 
he  has  been  appointed  to  supreme  authority  in  that  order  of 
creation  to  which  he  belongs.  It  is  true,  that  he  has  sunk 
below  his  original  dignity,  and  that  weakness,  suffering,  and 
shame,  have  come  upon  him ;  but  in  the  midst  of  the  general 
misery  and  ruin  of  the  race,  we  see  the  Man  Christ  Jesus — 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour,  because  He  has  suffered  death 
— fulfilling  in  His  own  person  all  the  lofty  descriptions  in  the 
ancient  Scriptures,  of  the  true  power  and  greatness  belonging  to 
mankind; — '^  For  it  became  Him,  for  %i<hom  are  all  things,  and 
by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make 
the  Captain  of  their  salvatio7i  perfect  through  sufferings." 

The  suff"erinofs  of  Christ  were  grievous.     To  the  minds  of  the 


Christ  PcTfcctcd  through  Sufferings.  59 

believing  Jews,  the  depth  and  darkness  of  Christ's  humihation 
obscured  both  His  original  glory  and  the  glory  which  had 
followed  His  death.  The  reasons  why  it  was  necessary  for 
Christ  to  suffer,  the  writer  speaks  of  afterwards,  but  /utc,  the 
emphasis  of  the  thought  is  this — that  it  did  not  become  God  to 
leave  Him  under  the  power  of  those  sufferings,  or  unrewarded 
for  them.  It  was  a  fact,  that  Christ  had  been  crowned  with 
glory  and  honour  ;  and  it  was  fitting  that  He  should  be 
crowned. 


It  '■^became"  God  so  to  exalt  the  Lord  Jesus,  because  Jesus, 
in  His  sufferings,  was  accomplishing  the  Divine  will,  fulfilling  a 
Divine  commission.  It  is  a  frequent  argument  with  the  inspired 
writers  that  no  act  of  obedience  to  God,  no  act  of  self-sacrifice, 
prompted  by  love  to  Him,  will  pass  unrewarded.  "  He  is  not 
unrighteous  to  forget  your  Avork  and  labour  of  love."  The 
duties  He  imposes  on  us,  seem  to  have  this  for  one  of  their 
purposes,  that  God's  blessings  may  come  to  us,  not  as  the 
mere  gifts  of  His  infinite  bounty,  but  as  the  recompense  of  our 
service.  The  poorest,  slightest  proofs  of  our  devotion  to  Him, 
are  carefully  treasured  up  in  His  memory,  and  are  to  receive 
public  honour.  It  does  not  become  Him,  "for  v/hom  are  all 
things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,"  to  permit  any  who 
endure  hardship  or  toil  in  His  service,  to  remain  without 
reward. 

The  life,  and  sufferings,  and  death,  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
emphatically  required  a  splendid  recompense.  To  these  Jewish 
Christians  who  felt,  as  we  cannot  feel,  how  ignoble  His  life  was 
according  to  all  the  common  rules  of  human  judgment,  how 
bitter  were  His  sufferings,  how  shameful  His  death,  this  appeal 
had  peculiar  force.  Let  it  be  granted,  that  there  was  a  dark 
contrast  between  the  angelic  messengers  of  the  earlier  faith  and 
the  Son  of  God  by  whom  the  new  faith  was  founded  ;  let  it  be 
granted,  that  He  lived  in  poverty  and  affected  no  outward 
greatness ;  that  even  His  miracles  were  quiet  and  unosten- 
tatious ;  that  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  weariness,  and  all  the 
common  infirmities  of  human  nature  were  His  inheritance  ;  that 


6o  Christ  Perfected  through  Sufferings. 

He  was  a  man  of  son-ows,  and  acquainted  with  grief ;  that  His 
death  was  the  death  of  a  criminal ;— what  then  ?  Why,  He 
was  doing  God's  work  in  it  all,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  depth 
of  His  temporary  humiliation  only  increases  the  height  of  His 
everlasting  glory.  Had  He  come  into  the  world  as  a  prince, 
with  crown  and  sceptre,  and  a  bright  and  splendid  army  of 
angels  to  accomplish  His  will,  there  would  have  been  far  less  in 
His  work  for  God  to  honour  and  reward.  But  as  it  is,  every 
sorrow  of  His  earthly  life  must  be  recompensed  with  an  infinite 
joy ;  His  weakness  with  immortal  strength  ;  His  human  shame 
mth  Divine  honour ;  the  mockeries  and  insults  of  wicked  men 
Avith  the  songs  of  holy  angels.  Mysterious,  and  awful,  and 
protracted  as  were  His  sufferings,  He  too,  can  say  when 
comparing  them  with  their  boundless  and  everlasting  recom- 
pense, that  those  "light  afflictions"  which  were  "but  for  a 
moment,"  have  -vvTOught  out  for  Him  "a  far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  "  //  became  Him,  for  whojn  are  all 
things,  and  by  whom  are  all  thi?igs,"  to  confer  on  Him,  who 
being  His  Son,  had  taken  on  Him  the  form  of  a  servant,  the 
highest  and  most  illustrious  reward. 


II. 

It  ^^ became''  God  so  to  exalt  the  Lord  Jesus,  because  God  is 
"bringing  many  sons  to  glory,"  and  it  is  impossible  that  He 
who,  in  the  highest  meaning  of  the  term,  is  the  "  Son  of  God  " 
should  remain  unglorified. 

These  Jewish  Christians  were  themselves  hoping  for  a  blessed 
immortality.  Their  fathers  had  received  dim  revelations  of  the 
future  life;  but  to  themselves  a  clearer  and  fuller  revelation 
had  been  made  of  the  glory  of  heaven  than  patriarchs  or 
prophets  or  psalmists  had  possessed.  All  who  are  accustomed 
to  read  the  Psalms  will  remember  many  striking  illustrations  of 
the  obscurity  and  imperfection  of  the  knowledge  and  faith  of 
good  men  in  Jewish  times,  concerning  everlasting  blessedness. 
David,  in  the  greatness  of  his  trouble,  cries  to  God,  "  O  save 
me,  for  Thy  mercies'  sake  :  for  in  death  there  is  no  remem- 
brance of  Thee :   in  the  grave,  who  shall  give  thee  thanks  ?  " 


Christ  Perfected  through  Sufferings.  6i 

AVe  are  not  to  suppose  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  a  future 
life ;  elsewhere,  there  are  the  clearest  proofs  that  he  had.  He 
knew  that  God  would  shew  to  him  the  path  of  life — that  when 
heart  and  flesh  failed  God  would  be  the  strength  of  his  heart 
and  his  portion  for  ever.  But  his  knowledge  was  very  in- 
distinct ;  his  hope  of  future  glory  was  very  cloudy;  and  just  as 
we  find,  that  in  times  of  darkness  and  despair  we  lose  sight  of 
nearly  all  the  inferior  objects  of  faith,  and  only  one  or  two  of 
the  greatest  sources  of  consolation  remain,  so  it  was  with  him ; 
and  when  his  trouble  was  upon  him,  one  of  the  first  truths  to 
disappear  was  the  truth,  that  even  if  death  came  there  was  a 
life  beyond  death,  and  a  life  in  which  God  would  be  better 
known  and  worshipped  more  worthily.  But  to  these  Jewish 
Christians  life  and  immortality  had  been  brought  to  light 
through  the  gospel.  They  believed  that  they  were  the  sons  of 
God,  and  that  God  intended  to  confer  on  them  an  inheritance 
of  glory.  Yes,  they  too,  as  the  writer  intimates  in  the  following 
verses,  were  the  sons  of  God.  He  by  whom  they  had  been 
^^consecrated"  to  God,  and  they  who  had  ^^ bee7i  consecrated" 
were  "  all  of  one;  "  they  had  a  common  father  and  a  common 
title ;  for  which  reason  Christ  was  "  not  ashamed  to  call  them 
brethren."  With  the  Psalmist,  He  could  say,  I  will  declare 
Thy  name  unto  my  brethren  :  with  the  prophet  He  could  say, 
I,  like  those  whom  I  have  to  teach,  Avill  put  my  trust  in  Him ; 
and  again,  Behold  I  and  the  children  that  God  hath  given  me. 
They  were  the  sons  of  God,  and  God  was  bringing  them  to 
glory.  Their  own  hopes  of  everlasting  blessedness  should 
have  reminded  them  of  the  greater  blessedness  which  God 
must  already  have  conferred  upon  the  Lord  Jesus.  They  were 
being  led  by  the  Divine  hand  to  immortal  honours  in  the 
world  to  come.  How  marvellous  it  was  they  should  need  to 
be  told  that  honours  far  more  exalted  must  already  have  been 
conferred  on  Christ !  If  their  sins  were  to  be  forgiven,  how 
certain  it  was  that  Christ's  holiness  had  received  a  glorious 
reward ;  if  they  were  mercifully  to  be  restored  to  the  Divine 
favour,  how  certain  it  was  that  Christ  had  received  the  very 
highest  proofs  of  the  Divine  approbation ;  if  they,  who  had 
deserved  shame  and  death,  were  being  brought  to  the  thrones 


62  Christ  Perfected  through  Sufferings. 

of  heaven,  how  certain  it  was  that  Christ  had  been  crowned 
with  glory  and  honour.  If  they  were  to  become  the  com- 
panions of  angels,  Christ  must  surely  have  been  exalted  above 
all  principalities  and  powers.  "  //  became  Him  for  whom  arc 
alJ  things  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  brins;ing  ma?iy  sons 
unto  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through 
suffer  ingsT 

III. 

It  '■^became''''  God  so  to  exalt  the  Lord  Jesus,  because  it  was 
by  Him  that  the  glory  of  all  the  saved  was  rendered  possible. 
He  is  "  the  Captain  of  their  salvation^  The  sons  of  God  derive 
their  sonship  from  Him ;  and  if  they  are  the  heirs  of  a  bright 
inheritance  it  is  because  they  are  joint  heirs  with  Him.  It  Avas 
the  most  shameful  ingratitude,  it  was  the  most  ignoble  mean- 
ness, for  Christians  to  shrink  from  their  profession  of  fidelity  to 
Christ  because  of  the  sorrows  and  sufferings  and  contempt 
which  He  had  endured  in  His  earthly  history.  His  temporary 
humiliation  was  the  means  of  securing  their  deliverance  from 
everlasting  ruin ;  His  shame,  the  means  of  securing  their 
everlasting  honour.  If  He  was  poor,  it  was  in  order  that  they 
might  be  made  rich.  If  He  was  put  to  a  cruel  and  shameful 
death,  it  was  that  they  might  live  a  happy  and  glorious  life. 
And  the  argument  of  the  inspired  MTiter  is  this,  that  it  became 
God  to  raise  to  the  highest  dignity  Him  whose  sufferings  were 
the  means  of  bringing  many  to  glory.  It  was  impossible  that 
He  should  remain  unhonoured,  who  had  rescued  many  from 
the  deepest  degradation  and  disgrace.  The  Captain  of  salva- 
tion must  receive,  in  a  larger  measure  and  a  nobler  form,  what 
those  who  are  saved  are  hoping  for. 

IV. 

The  particular  term  "  make  perfect "  which  the  writer  uses  in 
order  to  describe  the  exaltation  of  Christ — while  it  means 
substantially  the  same  as  "crowning  Him  with  glory  and 
honour  " — seems  to  have  been  chosen  to  indicate  that  as  Christ 
had  voluntarily  assumed  the  infirmities  of  human  nature,  had 


Christ  Perfected  through  Sufferings.  6 


:> 


voluntarily  endured  human  woe  in  its  most  grievous  forms,  had 
voluntarily  submitted  not  only  to  become  man,  but  to  be 
oppressed  with  burdens  and  troubles  which  man,  according  to 
God's  original  idea  of  man's  condition  and  rank,  was  never  to 
know,  it  "  bccainc"  God  to  realise  in  Christ  all  the  possibilities  of 
power  and  joy  which  were  implanted  in  man's  nature.  WHiat 
man  was  meant  to  be,  the  writer  has  already  described ;  and 
since  Christ,  to  rescue  man  from  ruin,  exhausted  all  the  possibi- 
lities of  suffering  which  can  belong  to  sinless  humanity,  it 
'•'•became  HinC — from  Avhom  man's  nature  came  at  first — to 
develop  in  Christ  all  the  possibilities  of  glory  which  belong  to 
sinless  humanity.  The  Divine  idea  of  man  must  be  perfected 
in  Him  who  became  man  to  save  men  from  eternal  destruction. 
It  became  the  Creator  of  all  things  to  let  the  universe  see,  in 
the  glorified  human  nature  of  Christ,  the  accomplishment  of  a 
conception  which  human  sin  had  prevented  being  realised 
before. 


But  the  greatness  of  Christ's  reward  is  measured  not  only  by 
the  greatness  of  His  service  to  God  and  the  greatness  of  His 
service  to  man,  it  is  measured  also  by  the  infinite  resources  of 
the  Almighty  Creator  and  Universal  Sovereign.  It  is  not 
accidentally  or  without  a  definite  purpose,  that  the  inspired 
writer  speaks  of  God  as  Him  "/tr  whom  are  all  things  and  by 
whom  are  all  things."  The  intention  is  to  suggest  how  vast, 
how  boundless,  are  the  means  Avhich  God  has  for  conferring 
honour  on  Christ.  The  recompense  is  to  come  from  One  ^^•ho 
has  absolute  control  not  merely  over  the  wealth  and  greatness 
of  this  world,  but  over  all  created  things. 

Every  region  of  the  universe  is  under  God's  command.  All 
the  magnificence  of  the  heavens  is  His  ;  and  the  glory  of  angels 
and  archangels  and  principalities  and  powers.  There  is  no 
throne  so  exalted  that  He  may  not  give  it  to  Christ — there  is  no 
sceptre  so  mighty  that  He  may  not  place  it  in  Christ's  hand — 
there  are  no  creatures  so  illustrious  that  He  may  not  make  them 
Christ's  servants.      "  For  Him  are  all  thins;s"  and  therefore  it 


64  Christ  Pcrfcrtcd  through  Sufferings. 

"  became'''  Him  to  confer  on  service  such  as  Christ  has  rendered, 
the  most  magnificent  reward. 

Nor  is  this  all.  God  is  not  merely  the  Sovereign  of  the 
Universe  ;  He  is  its  Origin  and  Creator  too ;  "  ^_y  Him  are  all 
things."  If  this  universe  is  not  great  enough  to  constitute  an 
adequate  reward  of  Christ's  obedience  and  death,  He  who 
created  it  can  create  another.  He  who  filled  the  sun  with  light 
can  enthrone  in  the  sky  a  still  more  splendid  orb  :  He  who 
commanded  the  stars  to  glitter  in  the  darkness  can  multiply 
their  numbers  and  make  them  shine  with  a  clearer  and  intenser 
brightness.  On  earth,  He  can  lay  the  foundations  of  more 
majestic  mountains,  He  can  hold  vaster  oceans  in  the  hollow  of 
His  hand.  In  heaven.  He  can  build  palaces  of  light  of  nobler 
dimensions  and  more  dazzling  splendour  than  the  present 
mansions  of  the  glorified,  and  people  them  with  occupants 
whose  powers  and  blessedness  shall  exalt  them  into  a  rank  far 
transcending  that  of  the  most  princely  of  His  angels.  He  is 
able  to  reward  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  for  all  things  that 
exist,  exist  for  Him,  and  if  He  pleases,  He  may  lay  aside  the 
pomp  of  the  universe  as  a  worn  and  faded  garment,  and  create 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  and  place  them  under  the  feet  of 
Christ.  It  ^^ became"  Him,  therefore,  to  perfect  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation. 

If  it  thus  "became"  God  Himself  to  honour  Christ — if  Omni- 
potence is  worthily  exercised  in  establishing  and  defending  His 
throne— how  does  it  "  become  "  us  to  think  and  to  act  ?  Does 
it  "become"  any  of  us,  to  withhold  from  Him  our  supreme 
affection,  our  perfect  trust,  our  devoted  obedience?  Does  it 
"  become  "  any  of  us,  to  refuse,  as  long  as  we  dare,  to  yield  our 
heart  and  life  to  Him ;  does  it  "  become  "  any  of  us,  to  resolve 
to  bow  before  Him  in  penitence  and  prayer  only  when  it  is  too 
late  to  find  any  joy  away  from  His  presence — only  when  His 
outraged  mercy  alone  can  save  us  from  swift  and  irretrievable 
destruction  ?  Does  it  "  become "  any  of  us,  to  postpone 
honouring  Christ  until  we  have  exhausted  forbidden  pleasures, 
or  until  we  have  accumulated  a  fortune,  or  wrought  out  any  of 
the  schemes  of  a  laudable  but  secular  ambition?  It  "became" 
God,  whose  merciful  purposes  Christ  came  to  accomplish,  to 


Christ  Perfected  through  Sujfcrings.  65 

crown  Him  with  glory  and  honour :  does  it  "  become "  us, 
whom  He  came  to  save,  to  be  indifferent,  disobedient,  or 
ungrateful  ? 

And  let  those  who  trust  they  have  attained  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  through  Christ's  sufferings  and  death,  ask  themselves 
whether  it  "becomes"  them,  to  be  satisfied  with  securing  their 
eternal  salvation,  and  to  be  careless  about  augmenting  the 
honour  of  their  Lord.  If  it  "  became  "  the  everlasting  Father  to 
glorify  Him  in  heaven,  does  it  "become"  us,  whom  He  has 
condescended  to  call  and  to  constitute  His  brethren,  to  neglect 
the  service  by  which  He  may  be  glorified  on  earth  ?  Does  it 
"  become  "  us,  ever  to  be  indifferent  to  His  worship  when  we 
have  the  opportunity  of  Avorshipping  Him?  Does  it  "become" 
us,  to  leave  multitudes  of  our  race,  who  might  be  doing  Him 
homage,  ignorant  of  His  authority  and  love,  when,  if  we  tried  to 
instruct  and  reclaim  them,  they  might  join  the  angels  in  offering 
Him  perpetual  adoration  ? 

Does  it  "become"  us,  by  coldness  of  sympathy,  to  dis- 
courage those  who  are  trying  to  honour  Him?  Does  it 
"become"  us,  by  neglecting  intercession  as  well  as  work,  to 
delay  the  final  subjection  of  the  world  to  Christ  ?  Does  it 
"  become  "  us,  by  careless  living,  by  inconsistencies  of  conduct, 
by  an  unchristian  temper,  to  dishonour  His  name,  instead  of 
enriching  it  with  ever-increasing  glory,  by  a  holiness  originating 
in  love  for  Him,  and  sustained  by  the  power  of  His  Spirit  and 
tlie  influence  of  His  example  ?  If  it  "  became  "  God  to  exalt 
the  Captain  of  our  Salvation,  it  "becomes"  us  to  enthrone 
Him  over  all  the  affections  and  faculties  of  our  nature — over  all 
our  earthly  possessions — over  all  the  activities  of  our  life  :  and 
while  angels  and  archangels  serve  Him  in  heaven,  and  God 
Himself  crowns  Him  with  glory  and  honour,  we  ought  to  try, 
by  fervent  thanksgiving,  by  reverential  worship,  by  holy  living, 
by  generous  gifts,  by  earnest  Christian  toil,  to  fill  up  the 
measure  of  His  everlasting  joy,  and  to  let  Him  see  of  the 
travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied. 


THE   HUMANITY    OF    CHRIST. 

"Forasmuch  then  as  the  children  arc  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  He  also 
Himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same,"  &c.— Hebrews  ii,  14-18. 

So  far  as  we  know,  the  Incarnation  is  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  the  universe.  Never,  before  the  Eternal  Word 
became  man,  did  God  stand  among  His  creatures  as  one  of 
themselves,  walk  along  the  paths  by  which  they  travel,  and 
bear  the  necessary  limitations  of  a  created  nature. 


I. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  this  great  mystery  should  ha\e 
given  rise  to  many  philosophical  and  theological  theories, 
evading  or  denying  its  reality ;  it  is,  however,  important  to 
remember  that  the  earliest  heretics  disputed,  not  the  super- 
human dignity  of  Christ,  but  His  true  humanity.  And  though 
the  wild  and  fanciful  speculations  which  troubled  the  early 
ages  of  the  church,  have  long  ago  disappeared,  the  errors  to 
which  they  gave  a  definite  and  scientific  form  may  still  linger 
among  us. 

The  great  controversy  of  the  English  Evangelical  Churches 
of  the  last  generation,  was  on  behalf  of  the  Divinity  of  the 
Lord  Jesus;  perhaps  our  impression  of  His  humanity  is  less 
strong  and  vivid  than  it  should  be.  And  yet  the  evidence 
of  Holy  Scripture  on  this  point  is  abundant  and  most  conclu- 
sive. The  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  not  a  mere  phantom. 
He  was  born  "in  the  city  of  David  ;"  His  mother  '-Avrapped 
Llim  in  swaddlinsf  clothes,  and  laid  Him  in  a  manger."     "  The 


TJie  Himiauity  of  Christ.  6j 

child  grew,"  like  other  children,  "  in  stature,"  as  well  as  in 
wisdom.  He  needed  food  and  rest,  was  liable  to  hunger, 
thirst,  and  weariness;  and  in  His  agony  He  "sweat  great 
drons  of  blood."  He  v/as  nailed  to  the  cross  and  laid  in  the 
sepulchre;  and  even  after  His  resurrection  He  could  say, 
"  Behold  my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself;  handle  me 
and  see  ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  ilesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me 
have." 

A  far  more  subtle  heresy  than  that  which  denied  the  reality 
of  the  physical  nature  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  was  that  which  denied 
that  He  had  a  hwnan  soul.  There  were  some  who,  while 
believing  that  He  had  a  body  like  ours,  and,  that  what  they 
called  the  animal  soul  or  life,  which  renders  us  capable,  like 
the  lower  creatures,  of  physical  pleasure  and  pain,  dwelt  in 
Him,  supposed  that  His  Divine  nature  took  the  place  of  that 
higher  element  of  humanity  to  which  belong  the  affections  and 
the  intellectual  faculties.  The  sect  of  ApoUinaris  has  perished 
and  his  name  is  almost  forgotten  ;  but  I  have  known  intelligent 
Christian  people  who,  through  never  having  had  their  attention 
specially  directed  to  the  truth,  have  thought  that  what  we  mean 
by  the  Humanity  of  Christ  is,  that  He  had  a  human  body, 
and  that  what  we  mean  by  His  Divinity,  is  that  His  soul  was 
Divine. 

But  human  nature  does  not  consist  of  a  body  merely ;  and 
it  is  as  certain  that  the  Lord  Jesus  "humbled  Himself"  to  the 
limitations  of  our  intellectual  nature,  as  that  He  assumed  an 
external  form.  "  He  increased  in  wisdom ; "  He  declared  that 
His  knowledge  was  limited.  "  Of  that  day  and  that  hour 
knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  which  are  in  heaven, 
neither  the  Soft,  but  the  Father."*  If  it  be  asked  how  it  \vas 
possible  for  One  who,  being  Divine,  was  omniscient,  to  lay 
aside  His  glory,  and  to  stoop  to  the  conditions  of  our  own 
intellectual  life,  I  cannot  profess  to  be  able  to  rejily.  The  fact 
is  inexplicable,  but  this  is  no  reason  for  denying  it.t 

*  Mark  xiii,  32. 

+  There  are  some  physiological  facts  which  may,  pcrliaps,  help  to  alleviate 
to  some  minds  the  speculative  difficulty  which  the  orthodox  doctrine  involves, 
It  is  well  known,  for  instance,  that  a  man  who  has  mastered  a  foreign  language, 


6S  The  Hjiinanity  of  Christ. 

That  the  Lord  Jesus  had  the  ordhiary  affections  of  humanity- 
is  not  less  certain.  There  was  an  unearthly  sanctity  about 
Him,  but  the  unique  impression  produced  by  His  character  did 
not  result  from  the  absence  of  those  gentle  sympathies  and 
varying  emotions,  which  give  a  colour  and  a  charm  to  human 
nature.  If  holiness  consist  in  the  expulsion  from  the  heart,  of 
hope,  and  fear,  and  love,  and  sorrow,  the  Lord  Jesus  was  not 
a  saint.  He  "loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus." 
Among  His  apostles  there  was  one  who  was  the  object  of  His 
special  affection,  and  who  spoke  of  himself  as  "the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved."  Of  His  love  for  His  mother  we  have  a 
most  touching  proof ; '  when  the  agonies  of  His  last  hour  were 
upon  Him,  and  the  sins  of  the  world  were  being  atoned  for  by 
His  solitary  sufferings.  He  looked  down  from  the  cross  on 
Mary,  and,  remembering  her  desolate  condition,  committed  her 
to  the  care  and  shelter  of  His  dearest  earthly  friend,  saying  to 
His  mother,  "  ^^'oman,  behold  thy  Son,"  and  to  John,  "  Behold 
thy  mother."  His  sympathies  were  quick  to  respond  to  any 
appeal  that  touched  them.  When  the  young  man  who  was 
rich  came  to  Christ,  asking  what  he  must  do  to  inherit  eternal 
hfe,  there  was  something  in  the  simplicity  of  his  character,  his 
frankness,  his  very  unconsciousness  of  how  seriously  he  fell 

and  can  speak  and  read  it  with  perfect  ease,  may  have  all  the  treasures  of  his 
memory  suddenly  locked  up  and  completely  closed  against  him, -by  an  injury 
inflicted  on  the  brain.  The  orations  of  Demothenes,  the  plays  of  Terence, 
which  he  read  a  week  ago  without  the  slightest  difficult}-,  are  now  as  unmeaning 
to  him  as  to  a  child  who  has  yet  to  begin  the  Latin  and  Greek  declensions. 
His  memory  may  be  unimpaired  in  every  other  direction,  and  yet  his  classics 
have  clean  gone.  That  t'ae  knowledge,  though  not  present  to  consciousness, 
and,  for  the  time,  beyond  the  reach  of  recollection,  is  not  lost,  is  clear  from 
this,  that  in  some  cases  of  this  kind  a  change  has  suddenly  taken  place  in  the 
condition  of  the  brain,  and  the  missing  language  has  immediately  come  back. 
But,  for  the  time,  he  was  lea-ied,  and  yet  ignorant  ;  he  knew,  and  yet  he  knew 
not.  I  am  quite  aware  of  tlu  points  in  which  this  illustration  fails  to  touch  the 
mystery  of  the  assumption  by  an  omniscient  person  of  the  limitations  of  a 
human  intellect,  and  yet  it  may  not  be  without  service  to  the  faith  of  some.  It 
shows  the  possibility  of  the  removal  beyond  the  limits  of  consciousness,  of 
knowledge  which  the  mind  still  retains. 


Since  writing  this  note  I  have  met  with  the  following  passage  in  Ebrard's 
"Gospel  History,"  which  although  not  intended  to  illustrate  the  exact  point 


The  Hinnanity  of  Christ.  69 

short  of  the  liighest  goodness,  which  affected  the  heart  of  the 
Lord  ;  "  looking  on  the  young  man,  He  loved  him ;"  He  felt 
that  sudden  outflow  of  affection  towards  him  which  most  of  us 
have  often  felt  towards  a  stranger  after  hearing  only  a  few 
words  from  his  lips.  The  innocence  and  helplessness  of  child- 
hood awakened  in  Him,  as  in  every  kindly  heart,  a  yearning 
tenderness.  "Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  to  Me,  and 
forbid  them  not — and  He  took  them  up  in  His  arms,  and  put 
His  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them."  Seeing  the  leper,  He 
was  "moved  with  compassion."  When  He  looked  down  on 
Jerusalem  from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  anticipated  its  doom. 
He  "wept  over  it."  At  the  grave  of  Lazarus  He  "groaned  in 
spirit,  and  was  troubled ; "  and  though  He  was  about  to  restore 
the  dead  man  to  life  again,  "  Jesus  wept "  in  sympathy  with  the 
mourners,  and,  perhaps,  at  the  thought  of  the  millions  who 
carry  their  dearest  to  the  grave,  knovnng  nothing  of  Him  who 
is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life. 

When  the  Jews  watched  Him,  whether  He  would  heal  the 
man  with  the  withered  hand  on  the  Sabbath  day.  He  "  looked 
round  about  on  them  with  anger,  being  grieved  for  the  hardness 
of  their  hearts."  AVhen  Peter  denied  Him,  that  look  which 
made  the  strong  man  turn  aside  and  weep,  was  surely  the 
expression  not  so  much  of  Divine  rebuke,  as  of  human  love, 
wounded  and  cut  to  the  heart  by  the  temporary  failure  of  the 
disciple's  affection.      Finally,  before  His  agony  came  He  had 

under  consideration,  touches  one  of  tlie  difficulties  which  the  great  mystery 
involves.  Speaking  of  the  Baptism  of  Jesus,  Ebrard  says,  "In  substance, 
Jesus  was  the  Eternal  Son  of  God  ;  but  through  the  simple  act  of  His  incarna- 
tion, He  had,  by  voluntary  self-limitation,  made  the  human  form  of  existence, 
both  in  time  and  space,  entirely  His  own,  and,  therefore,  reduced  His  conscious 
life  within  the  limits  of  a  human  sphere.  In  the  development  of  His  conscious- 
ness. He  had  just  reached  that  point  in  which  He  clearly  apprehended  the 
vocation  given  to  Him  by  the  Father,  &c."  In  a  note  Ebrard  adds,  "No  man 
is  conscious  here  on  earth,  at  one  and  the  same  moment,  of  all  that  he  is  or  of 
all  that  he  possesses,  as  the  substance  of  pneumatico-psychical  being.  A  som- 
nambulist, when  waking  up  from  magnetic  sleep,  will  continue  the  clause 
which  was  broken  off  (sometimes  in  the  middle  of  a  word)  as  he  fell  asleep. 
Consciousness  was  suspended,  the  substance  remained  unchanged.  A  man 
who  has  been  insane  or  delirious  with  fever,  knows,  when  he  recovers,  all  that 
he  knew  before  ;  though  during  his  illness  it  has  all  been  withdrawn  from  his 
nwjc/o/«««j."— Ebrard's  Gospel  History  (Clark's  translation),  p.  199. 


70  TJic  HinnaJiity  of  Christ. 

the  same  longing  and  yearning  for  it  to  be  accoiriplislied,  that 
v/e  have  to  get  through  some  great  and  painful  crisis  of  our 
history, — "  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptised  with,  and  how  am 
I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  ; "  and  when  it  came,  there 
was  human  shrinking  and  fear, — "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrow- 
ful, even  unto  death.  Father,  if  it  be  Thy  will,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  Me." 

Christ  has  vindicated  the  affections  of  our  nature  from  foolish 
and  wicked  reproach.  Protestants  as  we  are,  I  fear  that  some 
of  us  still  feel  the  attraction  of  that  unreal  and  ascetic  virtue 
which  has  been  canonized  through  century  after  century  by  the 
Romish  Church.  The  voluntary  desertion  of  society,  the 
renunciation  of  the  joys  and  duties  and  solicitudes  of  friendship 
and  love,  the  crucifixion  and  murder  of  many  of  tlie  harmless 
instincts  and  passions  of  the  heart,  that  the  soul  may  dwell  for 
ever  in  the  mysterious  stillness  or  ecstatic  raptures  of  a  solitary 
devotion,  appear  to  us  to  constitute  a  higher  and  purer  type  of 
perfection  than  can  be  attained  amidst  the  ordinary  cares  and 
pleasures  of  men.  The  legends  of  Rome,  her  wondrous  stories 
of  saintly  hermits,  monks,  and  martyrs,  have  won  her  more 
converts  than  all  the  logic  of  her  illustrious  theologians.  The 
true  missionaries  and  apostles  of  that  Church  are  not  her 
accomplished  divines,  but  her  ascetics,  worn  out  with  fastings 
and  prayers. 

The  best  corrective  of  the  morbid  condition  of  the  imagina- 
tion which  renders  us  susceptible  to  these  perilous  fascinations, 
is  to  turn  to  the  pages  of  the  four  Gospels.  How  tame  are  the 
inspired  representations  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  after  the  stimulating 
histories  of  the  saints  of  the  middle  ages  !  How  cold  His 
devotion,  compared  with  their  vehemence  and  fervour  I  What 
self-indulgence  v/as  there  in  Him,  when  we  think  of  their  self- 
mortification  1  As  soon  as  v»'e  find  that,  v/ithout  saying  it,  we 
feel  all  this,  it  is  time  to  conclude  that  we  are  in  great  danger. 
There  must  be  something  false  and  meretricious  in  that  saintly 
aureola  which  makes  the  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  appear  dim. 
Our  vision  needs  purging.  Our  taste  has  been  fatally  cor- 
rupted. 


TJic  Iluvianiiy  of  Christ.  71 

It  is  one  of  the  most  successful  frauds  of  the  devil,  to  divert 
our  strength  from  the  struggle  with  real  sins,  by  causing  us  to 
feel  scruples  about  what  is  harmless,  and  to  condemn  what 
is  positively  good.  A  conscience  morbidly  acute  in  one 
direction,  will  be  insensible  and  powerless  in  another ;  or,  after 
protracted  irritation  and  distress,  will  sink  into  permanent  and 
universal  inactivity.  The  endeavour  to  attain  an  unreal  virtue 
often  ends  in  a  hard  indifference  to  the  plainest  and  simplest 
duties. 

"  Forasmuch,  thai,  as  the  chUdrai — (we  have  been  told,  in  a 
])receding  verse,  that  (iod  is  'bringing  many  sons  unto  glory') 
— are  partakers  of  flesh  and  bbod.  He  also  Himself  likewise  took 
part  of  the  same.  "'  ''"  '■'  ///  ail  things  it  behoved  Him  to  be 
made  like  unto  His  brethren."  This  relationship  resting  on  a 
jjarticipation  of  our  "flesh  and  blood,"  and  a  sharing  of  our 
"  infirmities,"  must  render  possible  a  nearer  and  more  blessed 
communion  with  Him  than  even  His  angels  or  archangels  can 
ever  know.  His  humanity  was  sanctified  by  the  same  Spirit 
that  sanctifies  us.  He  was  tempted  by  the  same  evil  power 
that  tempts  us.  His  religious  life  was  cherished  and  developed 
by  the  same  ancient  Scriptures  which  are  our  consolation  and 
strength.  He  sang  with  a  loftier  rapture  and  a  keener  sorrow 
the  very  Psalms  in  which  we  utter  our  joy  and  grief.  He 
travelled  to  the  throne  of  God  by  the  same  rugged  and  weary 
path  by  which  Ave  are  now  travelling.  Our  final  blessedness 
will  be  a  rest  from  toil,  and  He  is  resting  from  His  labours. 
Those  who,  like  Himself,  have  reached  "  perfection  "  through 
suffering,  must  be  nearer  to  Him  for  ever,  than  those  bright 
and  happy  spirits  on  v/hose  joy  the  shadow  of  grief  has  never 
fellen. 

11. 

Christ  came  to  save  a  race  over  which  "  death  reigned  ; " 
"  it  is  7iot  angels  that  He  helpeth,  but  the  seed  of  Abraham  : " 
hence  it  was  necessary  that  He  should  destroy  "  him  that  hath 
the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  dcvilT     This  descrijjtion  of  the 


72  TJie  Hmnanity  of  Christ. 

Wicked  One  is  remarkable,  and  there  is  considerable  difficulty 
in  apprehending  its  exact  meaning. 

Holy  Scripture  teaches  us  that  death,  the  death  of  the  body, 
is  the  penalty  of  sin.  Had  man  not  transgressed  the  Divine 
law,  he  would  never  have  died  at  all.  Perhaps  it  was  in 
anticipation  of  man's  disobedience,  that  the  living  creatures 
which  inhabited  the  world  in  ages  long  before  the  creation 
of  our  race  were  subjected  to  the  law  of  mortality.'-'  Explain 
it  how  we  will,  there  is  a  dread  of  dying  which  cannot  be 
wholly  traced  to  an  instinctive  shrinking  from  the  breaking  up 
of  our  physical  organisation,  nor  to  an  unwillingness  to  be 
separated  from  the  scenes  and  society  with  which  our  hearts 
have  grown  familiar.  Death  has  always  looked  like  a  terrible 
proof  that  God  is  against  us ;  like  the  execution  of  a  sentence 
pronounced  against  us  by  the  Supreme  Power.  At  its  approach 
the  heart  is  agitated  by  moral  alarms ;  slumbering  consciences 
are  startled  into  wild  activity ;  the  soul  is  haunted  by  its  sins. 

And  if  death  is  the  punishment  of  sin,  it  is  the  visible  sign 
that  we  have  yielded  ourselves  to  the  malignant  power  of  the 
devil.  It  is  a  proof  that  we  have  become  his.  He  reigns  in 
dark  supremacy  over  all  who  are  cast  away  from  God's 
presence.  They  are  his  victims.  The  regions  of  condemnation 
are  in  some  sense  under  his  control. 

But  when  the  mercy  of  God  rested  the  moral  constitution 
of  the  world  on  the  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  death 
ceased  to  be  the  expulsion  of  the  soul  from  the  Divine  love. 
Christ,  by  His  own  death,  rescued  the  human  race  from 
condemnation,  and  so  "destroyed"  him  whose  "power" 
extends  only  to  those  who  have  been  abandoned  by  God 
to  the  just  consequences  of  their  wrong-doing. 

We  "fear"  death  no  longer.  The  '■'■bondage"  which  the  fear 
produced  is  broken.  Death,  which  was  once  the  sign  of  God's 
anger,  has  been  made  the  most  glorious  proof  and  illustration 
of  God's  love;  He  "commendeth  His  love  toward  us,  in  that, 

*  See  a  remarkable  chapter  (cap.  vii.)  in  Dr.  Bushnell's  "  Nature  and  the 
Supernaturah" 


TJic  Iliimanity  of  Christ.       .  73 

while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  Life  and 
immortaUty  are  brought  to  hglit  through  the  gospel.  In 
thousands  of  instances  the  instinctive  fear  of  death  has  been 
mastered  by  the  "  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ." 

The  consideration  of  the  sympathies  of  the  Lord  Jesus  for 
mankind,  arising  out  of  His  personal  experience  of  temjjtation 
and  sorrow  (vv.  17,  18),  may  be  postponed  till  we  reach  the 
close  of  the  fourth  chapter,  where  the  writer  recurs  to  this 
consolatory-  subject,  and  treats  it  more  fully. 


THE  SIN  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. 

"Wherefore,     holy    brethren,     partakers    of    the    heavenly    calling,"    &c. — 
Hebrews  iii,  i — 19. 

I  PROPOSE,  this  morning,  to  place  before  you  the  impressive 
and  starthng  series  of  thoughts  contained  in  this  chapter.  The 
strain  of  warning  commencing  in  the  seventh  verse  is,  indeed, 
continued  through  the  next  chapter,  but  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  illustrate  and  enforce  the  whole  passage  in  a  single 
sermon. 

As  the  writer  has  just  spoken  of  Christ  as  a  merciful  and 
trustworthy  High  Priest,  it  would  have  been  very  natural  had 
he  immediately  proceeded  to  describe  the  perfection  and  glory 
of  His  priesthood ;  but  he  pauses,  that  he  may  show  Christ's 
superiority  to  Moses — the  supreme  object,  under  God,  of 
Jewish  veneration — and  that  he  may  avail  himself  of  the  most 
awful  argument  afforded  by  Old  Testament  history  for  strength- 
ening the  fidelity  of  Jewish  believers  who  were  in  danger  of 
drifting  back  into  Judaism. 

In  introducing  this  new  line  of  thought,  he  addresses  his 
readers  as  " /lo/y  hretJiren."  The  pathos  of  this  honourable 
title  is  best  understood  by  recalling  what  has  been  said  already 
about  the  ultimate  purpose  of  God  in  the  mission  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Through  Him  God  is  "bringing  many  sons^''  not 
servants,  "unto  glory."  There  is  a  brotherhood  between  Christ 
and  all  believers.  They  are  "partakers  of  flesh  and  blood;" 
"  He  also  Himself  took  part  of  the  same."  He  has  been 
"  crowned  with  glory  and  honour,"  and  they  are  predestinated 
to  be  conformed  to  His  image,  for  "  He  tasted  death  for  every 
man."  "  He  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren."  The 
readers  of  the  Epistle  are  reminded,  by  the  title  by  which  they 


The  Sill  in  tJic   Wilderness.  75 

are  addressed,  of  their  brotherhood  with  each  other  and  with 
Christ. 

Having  been  called  to  heavenly  dignity  and  blessedness,  they 
are  also  '■'■partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling^ 

They  are  exhorted  to  ^^contemplate  earnestly''''  Christ  Jesus, 
'^^the  Apostle  and  High  Priest"  of  the  Christian  faith ;  the 
'^Apostle"  for  it  was  He  who  brought  from  heaven  the  messages 
of  mercy  which  are  the  heart  and  life  of  the  new  revelation ; 
the  "High  Priest,"  for  He  stands  before  God  to  make 
reconciliation  for  human  sin. 

The  special  reason  alleged  in  this  place  for  so  contemplating 
Christ,  is  that  He  has  received  an  honour  and  a  reward  far 
more  illustrious  than  had  been  conferred  on  the  founder  of  the 
Jewish  faith  and  polity  :  "He  has  been  Judged  ivorthy  of  more 
glory  than  Afoses." 

The  writer  might  have  proceeded  to  expatiate  on  Christ's 
exaltation  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  but  he  is  writing  to  those 
who  had  often  heard  the  story  of  His  ascension  into  heaven 
from  the  lips  of  the  very  men  who  saw  Him  ascend ;  to  those 
who  knew  that  the  crucified  Jesus  had  been  made  Prince  as 
well  as  Saviour ;  and  in  this  very  Epistle  it  had  been  said  that 
the  angels  of  God  worshipped  Him.  All  that  the  writer  does 
here,  therefore,  is  to  point  out  the  reason,  or  one  of  the  reasons, 
why  the  Lord  Jesus  has  been  exalted  to  greater  glory  than 
Moses. 

I. 

I  shall  state  the  separate  thoughts  which  are  interwoven  in 
his  contrast  between  Moses  and  Christ. 

(i)  The  community  of  God's  servants  which  has  existed  in 
the  world  from  the  earliest  ages  is  called  God's  "house,"  or 
"household."  Between  Him  and  them  there  has  been  a  holy 
intimacy.  He  has  given  them  moral  laws,  promises,  religious 
ceremonies,  institutions  of  worship.  They  have  been  under 
His  special  protection.  He  has  revealed  to  them  His  character. 
He  has  dwelt  among  them.  The  true  house  of  (jod  in  this 
world  is  not  in  material  temples,  but  among  those  who  love 
Him   and   keep    His  commandments.      In   the  old  time  the 


76  TJic  Sill  in  the   Wilderness. 

Jewish  nation  was  God's  visible  dwelling-place.  St.  Paul,  in 
his  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  speajcs  of  the  Christian  Church  as 
being  "the  house  of  the  living  God,"  for  in  the  church  the 
Divine  presence  dwells  and  the  Divine  glory  is  revealed. 

Now  of  Moses  it  is  said,  in  Numbers  xii.  7,  he  "is  faithful  in 
all  My  house;"  words  which  are  quoted  in  the  second  verse  of 
this  chapter,  and  which  show  that  by  "ZT/j-  house''  is  meant, 
not  the  house  of  Moses,  but  the  house  of  God. 

(2)  In  God's  house  Moses  was  faithful  as  a  "servajif."  This 
is  all  that  even  the  Old  Testament  claims  for  him.  In  the 
passage  in  Numbers,  just  quoted,  it  is  declared  that  Moses  had 
nearer  intercourse  with  God  than  others  who  had  received 
Divine  revelations  :  to  them  God  spake  in  a  vision  or  a  dream, 
but  "My  servant  Moses  is  not  so,  who  is  faithful  in  all  Mine 
house.  With  him  I  will  speak  mouth  to  mouth,  even 
apparently,  and  not  in  dark  speeches;  and  the  similitude  of 
the  Lord  shall  he  behold."  When  God  is  asserting  for  Moses 
a  higher  rank  than  belonged  to  other  inspired  prophets,  he  is 
described  as  a  "servant"  still. 

(3)  Lofty  as  were  the  functions  of  the  Jewish  legislator,  it  is 
affirmed  that  in  faithfully  discharging  his  duties  as  a  servant,  he 
was  bearing  "  testimony  of  t/iings  ivhieh  were  to  be  afterwards 
spoken^  He  prophesied  of  one  who  was  to  come  in  after  ages ; 
the  priesthood  that  he  consecrated,  the  altars  he  built,  the 
whole  structure  of  the  Jewish  system,  was  but  a  temporar}^ 
provision  for  the  religious  necessities  of  mankind ;  and  the 
hearts  of  devout  Jews  were  always  longing  for  the  full  revelation 
and  perfect  accomplishment  of  God's  thoughts  and  purposes 
concerning  our  race. 

(4)  Christ  is  more  than  a  servant.  "Every  house"  or 
"  househohi," — for  the  word  includes  not  merely  the  material 
edifice,  but  all  the  appointments  and  offices  that  minister  to  the 
life  and  comfort  of  the  family, — must  be  '^founded  by  some  one: 
and  God  is  the  founder  of  all  things."  The  Jewish  Church  was 
not  founded  by  Moses  but  by  God  himself,  and  Christ,  as  His 
Son,  shares  with  Him  His  superior  honour.  He  does  not 
belong,  as  Moses  did,  to  the  house ;  He  is  the  Son  of  God  by 
whom  the  house  was  estabhshed ;   and  as  God  the  founder  has 


The  Sin  in  the   Wilderness.  yy 

more  honour  than  the  household  He  has  founded,  in  which 
Moses  was  a  servant, — Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  has  more 
honour  than  Moses. 

It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  imagine  the  enthusiasm,  the  almost 
idolatrous  veneration,  v.ith  which  Moses  was  regarded  by  the 
Jewish  people ;  a  veneration  which  was  deepened,  an  enthu- 
siasm which  was  intensified,  as  the  final  struggle  for  national 
existence  drew  near.  All  the  ordinary  elements  of  human 
greatness  culminated  in  his  history,  and  to  these  were  added 
the  mystery  and  glory  of  supernatural  endowments  and  of  a 
Divine  commission.  There  was  romance  even  in  the  story  of 
his  infancy.  He  was  born  when  his  race  was  enduring  cruel 
I)ersecution ;  but  his  mother's  instinct,  quickened  by  his 
personal  beauty,  and  guided  by  the  hand  of  God,  led  her 
to  make  a  desperate  eftbrt  to  preserve  him  from  the 
destruction  to  which  he  v/as  doomed  by  the  bloody  decree 
of  the  king.  He  was  found  on  the  waters  of  the  Nile 
by  a  princess,  adopted  by  her,  and  educated  in  all  the 
accomplishments  and  learning  of  a  great  and  splendid  court. 
Arrived  at  manhood,  his  heart  was  fired  with  a  patriotic 
love  for  his  own  people,  and  having  slain  an  Egyptian  who 
was  treating  a  Hebrew  with  violence,  he  was  obliged 
to  flee  into  the  desert  for  safety.  For  forty  years  he  lived 
in  the  solitude  and  wild  freedom  of  a  pastoral  life  ;  and  then  it 
was  Uivinel)'  revealed  to  him  that  he  was  to  be  the  deliverer  of 
his  countrymen.  His  struggle  with  the  Egyptian  king  was 
fierce  and  protracted.  At  his  word,  terrible  plagues  came  u})on 
Pharaoh  and  his  subjects ;  and  at  his  word,  the  plagues 
departed.  The  great  river  was  turned  into  blood  ;  foul  diseases 
affected  cattle  and  men;  showers  of  hail,  thunder  and  lightning 
■destroyed  the  crops  ;  and,  finally,  in  one  dreadful  night  all  the 
firstborn  of  Egypt  perished.  The  oppressed  race  marched  out 
of  the  land  of  bondage  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands, 
and  at  the  word  of  Moses  the  sea  divided,  that  the  vast  host 
might  pass  over;  the  pomp  and  power  of  Pharaoh  and  his 
armies  perished  in  the  returning  waves.  For  forty  years  the 
great  Jewish  chief  governed  his  restless  countrymen  in  the 
wilderness  ;  he  gave  them  bread  from  heaven  to  eat,  and  water 


yS  The  Sin  in  ihc    Wilderness. 

from  the  rock  to  drink ;  he  brought  them  face  to  face  with  God^ 
at  whose  voice  and  glory  they  trembled.  And,  at  last,  lest  his 
mortal  remains  should  be  the  object  of  superstitious  Avorship, 
he  went  up  alone  into  a  mountain  to  die,  and  no  man  ever 
knew  of  his  sepulchre. 

He  was  a  patriot,  and  punished  the  enemies  of  his  race  witli 
tremendous  chastisement ;  he  was  a  legislator,  and  his  laws  had 
retained  their  authority  for  more  than  sixteen  hundred  years  ; 
he  founded  a  national  literature,  and  his  writings  had  been  the 
daily  reading  of  the  kings  and  priests  and  commonalty  of  the 
Jewish  people  throughout  their  subsequent  history,  and  no 
doubt  was  ever  urged,  no  appeal  was  ever  made  against  a 
solitary  sentence  that  had  come  from  his  pen ;  he  established 
religious  institutions,  and  through  generation  after  generation 
inspired  men  had  been  commissioned  to  defend  their  sanctity  ; 
and  the  fortunes  of  the  nation  proved  that  no  commandment  of 
Moses  could  be  forgotten  or  violated  without  provoking  the 
vengeance  of  heaven.  No  other  name  in  the  history  of  the 
world  has  ever  had  the  power  to  stir  the  heart  of  a  nation  like 
his.  More  than  Luther  is  to  Germany,  more  than  Napoleon  is 
to  France,  more  than  Alfred,  or  Elizabeth,  or  Cromwell,  or 
William  III.  is  to  England,  IMoses  was  to  the  Jewish  people — 
prophet,  patriot,  warrior,  lawgiver,  all  in  one. 

How  strange  a  contrast  between  this  romantic,  brilliant,  and 
splendid  history,  and  the  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  !  He  .was 
called  a  Nazarene ;  He  was  despised  and  calumniated  by  the 
rulers  of  His  nation ;  His  religious  claims  were  branded  by  the 
priesthood  as  blasphemous,  and  He  was  crucified  by  the  civil 
power  as  a  turbulent  political  criminal.  And  yet  Moses  was 
only  God's  servant — Christ  was  God's  Son.  "Consider  the 
Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  profession,"  "  for  He  has  been 
held  worthy  of  more  honour  than  Moses." 


H. 

This  exhortation  is  driven  home  to  the  heart  and  conscience 
of  the  vacillating  Jewish  believers,  by  an  appeal  to  the  miserable 
end  of  the  generation  which  came  out  of  Eg)'pt. 


TJic  Sin  in  the    Wilderness.  79 

Never  did  a  nation  occupy  a  grander  position  than  the 
ancient  Jews,  when  they  stood  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Red 
Sea.  The  wonderful  procession  of  miracles  which  had  terrified 
and  yet  hardened  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  broken  but  not 
subdued  his  haughty  and  imperious  will,  was  sublimely  closed. 
The  security  of  the  fugitive  race  was  now  complete ;  their 
wrongs  were  terribly  avenged.  The  armies  of  Egypt,  her 
chariots  and  horsemen,  her  princes  and  her  warriors,  were  cast 
into  the  sea ;  "  they  sank  to  the  bottom  as  a  stone,  they  sank 
like  lead  in  the  mighty  waters."  For  their  leader  they  had  a 
chief  who  fought  against  their  enemies  with  storm  and  tempest, 
pestilence  and  famine,  with  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  with  the 
invisible  swords  of  supernatural  ministers  of  vengeance.  They 
had  with  them  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire,  the  visible 
symbol  of  the  Divine  presence  and  the  visible  pledge  of  the 
Divine  favour.  Very  soon  they  were  to  enter  into  a  fertile  and 
beautiful  land  Avhich  God  had  promised  to  their  ancestors,  and 
they  were  to  dwell  for  ever  under  the  Divine  protection. 
Bright  visions  of  wealth  and  splendour,  mighty  cities,  noble 
palaces,  glittering  annies,  military  renown,  were  floating  before 
the  imagination  of  many  a  man  in  that  vast  encampment, — 
visions,  however,  which  fell  far  short  of  the  glory  v/hich  the 
nation  had  actually  within  its  reach. 

But  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  triumphant  race  was 
doomed  to  disappointment,  disaster,  and  shame.  Hardly  any  of 
that  generation  reached  the  land  of  promise.  They  perished 
miserably.  The  "  mighty  wonders  "  which  God  had  wrought 
to  break  the  power  of  their  oppressors  effected  nothing  for 
them  except  to  give  them  a  grave  in  the  wilderness. 

And  you,  my  brethren,  the  vv'riter  seems  to  say,  are  exposed 
to  a  like  danger.  In  the  terrible  punishments  which  cam.e 
ujion  your  fathers,  you  may  see  dimly  foreshadov.ed  the  curse 
which  must  come  upon  all  apostates.  You  have  obeyed  the 
voice  of  God  till  now.  Divine  acts  far  more  sublime  than 
those  your  fathers  witnessed  have  separated  you  from  your  old 
life,  and  brought  everlasting  glory  near  to  you.  From  a  worse 
bondage   you   have   been    emancipated    by    niore    wonderful 


8o  TJie  Sin  in  the   Wilderness. 

miracles,  and  you  have  been  made  heirs  of  a  more  blessed 
inheritance.  But  your  confidence  is  faltering.  You  are  begin- 
ning to  distrust  God,  as  your  fathers  distrusted  Him;  His 
anger  is  rising,  and  in  His  wrath  He  may  swear  that  you  shall 
not  enter  into  His  rest. 

Nor  is  it  for  Jewish  Christians  alone  that  this  warning  is 
charged  with  awful  solemnity.  It  sternly  rebukes  the  folly  of 
supposing  that  because  God  has  delivered  us  from  our  former 
slavery  to  sin,  we  need  have  no  anxiety  about  our  ultimate 
salvation.  The  writer  of  this  Epistle  plainly  requires  that  faith 
should  continue  to  the  end,  and  would  refuse  to  listen  to  any 
appeal  to  past  religious  experiences,  if  intended  to  diminish 
alarm  occasioned  by  the  present  consciousness  of  sin.  Had 
you  told  him  that  you  were  hoping  to  be  safe  at  last,  because 
of  the  remarkable  manifestations  of  the  Divine  mercy  which 
accompanied  the  commencement  of  your  religious  life,  he 
Avould  have  asked  whether  or  not  you  had  now  "  an  evil  heart 
of  unbelief"  If  you  had  pleaded  that,  after  God  had  done  so 
much  for  you,  it  was  impossible  you  should  ultimately  perish, 
he  would  have  answered  that  by  amazing  miracles  the  people 
of  Israel  were  delivered  from  Egypt,  and  yet  "  their  carcases 
fell  in  the  wilderness."  We  are  to  escape  from  final  ruin,  not 
by  the  memory  of  former  supernatural  experiences,  but  by 
cleaving  still  to  the  living  God,  and  Avatching  earnestly  and 
prayerfully  against  the  great  danger  of  being  "hardened  through 
the  deceitfulness  of  sin." 


THE   REST   OF   GOD. 

•■  Let  us  therefore  fear,  lest  a  promise  being  left  us  of  entering  into  His  rest, 
any  of  you  should  seem  to  come  short  of  it,"  &c. — Hebrews  iv,  1-13. 

In  this  passage,  as  in  so  many  other  parts  of  the  New 
Testament,  argument  and  exhortation  are  closely  interwoven ; 
a  truth  is  established  by  reasoning,  and  an  appeal  is  made  to 
the  conscience  and  the  heart. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  wTiter  has  warned  the  Hebrew 
Christians  of  their  danger,  if  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  overborne  or  destroyed ;  He  has  reminded  them  that 
their  fathers  perished  in  the  wilderness  through  loss  of  coura- 
geous trust  in  the  Divine  goodness  and  power.  '■'Let  us 
therefore  fear,  lest  a  promise  still  remaining  of  entering  into  the 
rest  of  God,  any  should  appear — at  the  great  judgment — to  haze 
come  short  of  it." 

In  the  following  verses,  the  writer  appeals  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  show  that  the  peaceful  possession  of  Canaan  did  not 
exhaust  all  that  God  meant  by  the  rest  to  which  He  had 
destined  His  people.  There  is  another  rest  of  a  higher  and 
nobler  kind  still  "  remaining  "  for  the  descendants  of  Abraham, 
— for  all  who  listen  to  and  obey  the  Avord  of  God.  "A 
Ijromise  is  left  unto  11s." 

The  passage  he  appeals  to,  is  that  in  the  ninety-fifth  Psah'.-j, 
which  he  has  already  c[uoted  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

(i)  In  that  Psalm  an  inspired  writer  speaks  of  the  Divine 
rest,  and  declares  that  God  had  sworn  that  those  who  had 
been  guilty  of  unbelief  in  the  wilderness  should  not  enter 
into  it.  And  this  reference  to  the  sin  of  the  generation 
that  left  Egypt,  derives  all  its  practical  power  from  the  truth' 
that   the    generation   to   which    the    Psalmist    was    speaking, 


82  Tlie  Rest  of  God. 

might  be  guilty  of  the  same  sin  of  unbelief,  and  through  it, 
might  incur  the  same  penalty  of  exclusion  from  the  rest 
of  God. 

(2)  It  is  added  that  this  rest,  though  the  object  of  hope  to 
God's  people,  had  already  begun  for  Himself :  "  His  works 
7uere  finished  frofu  the  foundation  of  the  world;''''  in  the  earliest 
pages  of  Divine  revelation  it  is  said  that  "  God  rested  on  tlie 
seventh  day."  But,  in  the  Psalm,  though  written  so  many 
centuries  after  the  entrance  into  Canaan,  the  contemporaries  of 
the  Psalmist  are  clearly  addressed,  "  To-day  if  ye  will  hear  His 
voice,  hardeti  not  your  hearts."  '^  If  Joshua  had  given  the 
people  rest"  God  would  not  afterward  have  spoken  in  a  manner 
that  implied  the  possibility  of  the  people  of  David's  time  being 
subjected  to  a  punishment  like  that  which  came  upon  their 
fathers.  And,  therefore,  " there  still  remains  for  us  a  rest" — a 
glorious  Sabbath, — a  fellowship  with  the  peace  of  God.  '■'■  He 
that  hath  entered  into  rest "  has  escaped  from  all  the  labours  and 
conflicts  of  his  life.  '''He  hath  ceased  from  his  own  works,  as 
God  ceased fro?n  His."  ''Let  us  labour,  therefo7-e,  to  e?iter  into 
that  rest,  lest  any  man  fail  after  the  same  example  of  imbelicf" 

And  now  let  us  consider  separately  the  principal  thoughts 
contained  in  this  passage. 

I. 

The  foundation  of  the  whole,  is  the  rest  of  God  after  the 
creation  of  the  world.  In  the  first  chapter  of  the  book  of 
Genesis,  we  have  the  story  of  the  creation  of  all  things, 
presented  in  a  form  intelligible  to  the  minds  of  untaught  men 
of  every  country  and  every  age,  and  intended,  not  to  anticipate 
the  results  of  scientific  investigation,  but  to  convey  important 
religious  truths.  A  description,  however  brief,  of  the  actual 
processes  by  which  the  Divine  wisdom  and  power  gradually 
brought  into  existence  this  material  universe,  with  all  the  living 
things  which  have  their  home  in  it,  would  have  occupied,  not  a 
single  page  of  an  inspired  book,  but  many  volumes.  And,  in 
the  earlier  days  of  human  history,  no  language  existed  in 
which  that  description  could  have  been  given.  Just  as  the 
Avriters  of  the  New  Testament  are  obliged  to  represent  the 


The  Rest  of  God.  Zi 

glories  of  the  world  to  come,  by  employing  the  most  brilliant 
and  gorgeous  imagery  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  this  life, 
and  tell  us  that  the  streets  of  the  city  of  God  are  gold,  its 
gates  pearls,  its  walls  jasper,  and  its  foundations  precious  stones, 
so  the  writer  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  was  obliged  in 
describing  the  history  of  creation,  to  employ  language  and 
forms  of  thought  derived  from  actual  human  experience.  That 
mysterious  and  blessed  existence  which  lies  beyond  the 
close  of  human  life  on  earth,  is  so  exhibited  to  us  that  we 
long  to  enter  into  its  glory  and  peace  ;  but  we  are  sure  that, 
when  we  reach  heaven,  we  shall  discover  that  the  brightest  and 
fairest  things  of  this  world  were  but  a  dim  and  imperfect 
parable  of  the  splendour  and  joy  of  the  world  to  come.  And 
so,  the  wonderful  series  of  Divine  acts  which  preceded  human 
life  on  earth,  is  exhibited  to  us  so  as  to  awaken  wonder  and 
awe,  and  to  deliver  us  from  the  great  falsehood  and  sin  of 
idolatry ;  but,  as  we  gradually  come  to  learn  the  actual  history 
of  created  things,  we  shall  discover  that  the  grandeur  of  the 
Divine  acts  transcended  all  the  resources  of  human  thought  and 
speech  in  the  earlier  ages  of  human  history.  Even  now, 
although  the  genius  which  God  has  bestowed  upon  some  great 
men  during  the  last  three  centuries,  and  the  exhausting  labours 
He  has  enabled  them  to  prosecute,  have  resulted  in  amazing 
discoveries  of  the  vastness  and  majesty  of  the  material  universe, 
and  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  which  have  determined  its 
laws,  we  are  only  beginning  to  understand  the  works  of  God. 
"  He  doeth  great  things  and  unsearchable  ;  marvellous  things 
without  number." 

Now,  in  the  inspired  narrative  of  creation  it  is  intimated 
that,  after  the  Divine  power  had  been  put  forth  in  a  magni- 
ficent series  of  creative  acts,  there  was  a  pause ;  the  system  of 
things  which  God  intended  to  bring  into  existence  was  at  last 
complete  ;  all  material  laws  were  finally  established ;  every 
independent  form  of  life  had  been  originated  ;  and  God  rested 
from  His  works.  Henceforth,  for  ages  at  least,  there  was 
nothing  for  Him  to  do  but  to  sustain  the  universe  He  had 
made,  to  watch  over  the  development  of  all  the  forces  which  at 
His  word  had  begun  to  act,  to  uphold  the  laws  which  He  had 


84  TJie  Rest  of  God. 

instituted.  He  rested,  and  He  saw  that  all  His  works  were 
good.  It  is  true  that  He  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary ;  but 
He  regarded  what  He  had  created,  with  the  satisfaction  and 
peaceful  joy  with  which  man  pauses  when  his  cherished  pur- 
poses are  perfectly  accomplished,  and  with  which  man  contem- 
plates the  translation  of  his  dreams  into  facts.  An  architect 
who  has  built  a  majestic  cathedral,  a  painter  who  has  finished 
a  glorious  picture,  a  sculptor  who  has  carved  a  noble  statue, 
rests,— not  because  his  genius  has  been  exhausted, — it  may 
even  have  been  developed  and  exalted  by  his  labour, — but 
because  he  rejoices  Avhen  his  idea  has  assumed  a  permanent 
form  of  grandeur  or  beauty.  And  so  God  rested, — found 
delight  in  His  material  and  spiritual  creation  :  He  crowned  it 
with  the  highest  and  most  wonderful  honour,  declaring  that 
even  He  thought  it  good. 

Into  the  depths  of  that  Divine  delight  who  can  hope  to 
])enetrate  ?  "  God  is  great,  and  we  know  Him  not."  To  Him, 
as  to  us,  the  consciousness  of  perfection  must  be  a  source  of 
blessedness.  From  eternity  He  had  known  His  power.  His 
wisdom,  His  justice,  and  His  love.  In  the  solitude  in  which 
the  Godhead  dwelt,  before  there  were  any  creatures  to  gaze  on 
the  Divine  glory  or  to  be  governed  and  sustained  by  the  Divine 
hand,  there  was  perfect  and  infinite  joy.  And  yet  it  is  hard 
for  us  not  to  think  that  there  is  another  element  of  blessedness 
in  the  actual  exercise  of  omnipotence,  and  in  witnessing  its 
effects  ;  in  the  adjustment  by  infinite  wisdom  of  the  forces  of 
the  visible  creation,  and  the  comprehension  by  an  unlimited  and 
faultless  knowledge  of  all  the  activities  of  created  life ;  in  the 
outflowing  of  the  eternal  love  upon  the  innumerable  orders  of 
moral  creatures,  and  in  the  vision  of  their  holiness  and  joy, 
God  saw  that  His  works  were  "  good."  He  contemplated  them 
not  with  the  passionless  unconcern  which  we  are  too  disposed 
to  attribute  to  an  infinite  being,  but  with  positive  delight. 

II. 

Even  in  Jewish  times  there  were  indications  that  man 
might  have  fellowship  with  the  rest  of  God. 


The  Rest  of  God.  85 

On  the  M-eekly  Sabbath,  -which  commemorated  the  rest  of 
God,  man  himself  was  reciuired  to  rest,  and  so  the  thoughts  of 
the  devout  were  naturally  led  to  a  calm  and  happy  meditation 
on  the  Divine  works,  and  to  thanksgivings  for  all  that  God  had 
made, — thanksgivings  in  which  man  rose  into  communion 
with  God's  own  joy  over  His  creation.  Those  who  heartily 
honour  the  work  of  the  artist  have  no  remote  or  imperfect 
fellowship  with  the  satisfaction  which  he  himself  finds  in  the 
exercise  and  achievements  of  his  genius. 

In  the  ninety-fifth  Psalm,  God  speaks  of  His  own  "rest"  as 
one  which  man  might  share. 

in. 

In  the  Christian  revelation  the  possibility  of  this  high  com- 
munion is  far  more  perfectly  revealed. 

I  repudiate  the  dreams  of  Pantheism,  even  when  they  are 
baptised  with  the  Christian  name,  and  when  the  dreamers 
speak  a  language  richly  coloured  with  the  characteristic  terms 
of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  Though  penetrated  and 
transfigured  by  the  light  descending  from  the  higher  regions  of 
revealed  truth,  and  looking  warm  and  gorgeous  as  the  clouds  of 
sunset,  the  theory  is  mere  mist  and  vapour  still.  But  the 
soberest  interpreter  of  the  Gospels  and  of  the  apostoHc  Avritings, 
will  reverently  acknowledge  that  there  are  passages  of  un- 
fathomable depth  which  foreshadow  a  blessed  union  between 
all  holy  beings  and  their  Creator.  For  men  there  are  "  exceed- 
ing great  and  precious  promises,"  and  though  our  relationship 
to  God  in  Christ  gives  to  these  promises  a  peculiar  emphasis 
and  richer  meaning,  we  cannot  but  believe  that  for  other  ranks 
of  moral  beings  there  is  a  corresponding  though,  perhaps,  an 
inferior  bliss.  "  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  sit  with 
Me  on  My  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame  and  am  set  down 
with  My  Father  on  His  throne."  We  are  "predestinated  to  be 
conformed  to  the  image  of  His  Son."  We  are  "joint  heirs  with 
Christ."  All  believers  are  "  living  stones,"  in  the  temple  of 
which,  "Jesus  Christ  Himself"  is  "the  chief  corner  stone."  In 
Christ  "  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,"  and 
"  ye  are  complete  in  Him."     "  The  glory  which  Thou  gavest 


86  TJie  Rest  of  God. 

me  I  have  given  them."  "  Our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father 
and  with  the  Son  Jesus  Christ." 

The  preparations  for  our  final  communion  with  the  Divine 
joy  are  already  around  us.  We  shall  share  God's  rest,  for  we 
share  His  work.  He  inspires  us  with  love  for  the  souls  of  men 
and  with  keen  solicitude  for  their  everlasting  salvation.  "  The 
glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God  "  is  "  committed  "  to  "  our 
trust."  In  preaching  it,  multitudes  of  saints  have  undertaken 
and  sustained  heavy  labours,  and  endured  severe  persecutions. 
All  who  preach  it  earnestly,  learn  something  of  the  yearning 
compassion  for  men  which  prompted  Christ  Himself  to  take  the 
form  of  a  servant,  and  to  "  become  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross."  They  have  "  great  heaviness  and 
continual  sorrow  of  heart,"  because  of  the  ungodly.  Christ  left 
heaven  to  save  mankind  ;  and  they,  though  "  having  a  desire  to 
depart,"  are  content  that  their  entrance  into  glory  should  be 
delayed  in  order  that  they  may  continue  to  persuade  and 
entreat  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  An  apostle  could  even 
speak  of  "  filling  up  that  which  is  left  behind  of  the  afflictions 
of  Christ  for  His  body's  sake,  the  Church." 

Our  earthly  work  is  the  prophecy  of  our  heavenly  reward. 
Called  to  take  a  part  in  effecting  the  salvation  of  men,  we  shall 
share  the  bliss  with  which  their  salvation  will  fill  for  ever  the 
heart  of  God.  The  "  cross  "  is  ours  as  well  as  Christ's ;  and 
"  the  joy  which  was  set  before  Him  "  is  ours  too. 

The  "new  heavens  and  the  new  earth"  are  emerging  from 
the  darkness  and  chaos  of  the  world's  moral  condition  to  a 
grandeur  and  splendour  infinitely  transcending  the  glories  of  the 
material  universe ;  but  in  this  new  creation  God  is  not  acting 
alone.  Not  by  His  word  merely,  but  also  by  human  toil  and 
suffering,  is  the  mighty  and  everlasting  structure  rising  to  its 
ultimate  perfection.  And  when  the  brighter  heavens  and 
the  fairer  earth  are  "  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them,"  and 
shall  lie  under  the  eye  of  God  in  their  consummate  and  incor- 
ruptible beauty,  and  He  shall  declare  that  they  are  "good," 
the  humblest  and  obscurest  of  those  who  have  contributed  to 
the  great  result,  shall  share  the  Divine  satisfaction,  and  rest 
with  God  from  their  work. 


The  Rest  of  God.  87 

It  is  terrible  to  think  that  with  such  an  inheritance  within 
our  reach,  any  should  "fall"  after  the  "  example  of"  those  who 
lost  Canaan  and  perished  in  the  wilderness.  But,  to  escape  a 
doom  of  which  theirs  is  but  the  shadow,  it  is  necessary  to 
"  labour."  For  the  "  Word  of  God"  which  we  have  to  receive 
and  obey,  is  a  living  and  pozverful  thing;  it  is  sharper  than  any 
two-edged  sword ;  it  pierces  into  the  very  depths  of  man's 
nature  ;  it  discerns^  distinguishes,  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart."  What  we  are,  is  manifested  in  the  way  in  which  we 
receive  it.  We  are  returning  our  final  answer  to  the  question 
whether  we  will  serve  God  or  not.  His  Word  has  such  attri- 
butes that  the  secret  of  our  heart  is  told  by  our  acceptance  or 
rejection  of  it.  "  Neither  is  there  any  creature  that  is  not 
manifest  in  His  sight,  by  whom  the  Word  is  spoken ;  but  all 
things  are  Jiaked  and  open  unto  the  eye  of  Him  tvith  whom  we 
have  to  do."  Whether  we  listen  to  Him  or  not.  He  knows 
perfectly ;  and  by  that  knowledge  He  will  determine  our 
eternal  destiny.  No  revision  of  His  sentence  will  be  needed  ; 
no  reversal  can  be  hoped  for.  Now  is  the  crisis  of  our  im- 
mortal history. 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

"Seeing,  then,  that  we  have  a  great  Higli  Priest,  that  is  passed  into  the 
heavens,  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  let  us  hold  fast  our  profession,"  &c. — 
HEBRE^VS  iv,  14-16. 

These  verses  fonii,  at  once,  the  close  of  that  solemn 
argument  for  steadfastness  in  the  profession  of  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  which  occupies  the  greater  part  of  the  third  and  fourth 
chapters  of  this  epistle,  and  the  transition  to  the  illustration  of 
the  priesthood  of  Christ,  which  commences  in  the  fifth  chapter, 
and,  after  being  interrupted  by  a  passage  filled  with  most 
startling  and  awful  warnings,  extends  through  the  seventh, 
eighth,  and  ninth  chapters,  and  the  first  half  of  the  tentli. 


I. 

'■'■  Let  lis  hold  fast  our  profession.'^  This  is  the  brief  summary 
of  the  duty  which  is  enforced  by  the  whole  epistle.  To  give 
to  this  exhortation  an  irresistible  force,  the  A\Titer  has  just 
recalled  the  disastrous  history  of  the  generation  which  escaped 
from  Egypt.  They  did  not  hold  fast  their  profession  of 
confidence  in  God,  but  lost  their  faith  and  their  courage,  were 
guilty  of  great  sin,  and  perished  in  the  wilderness. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  circumstances  of  their 
flight  and  of  their  life  in  the  desert,  were  a  severe  test  of  their 
religious  trust  and  fidelity.  When  the  fugitives  saw  Pharaoh 
and  his  army  behind  them, — enraged  at  their  escape  and 
resolved  to  destroy  them, — and  the  sea  in  front,  we  can  hardly 
wonder  that  they  were  filled  with  terror  and  exclaimed  that  it 
would  have  been  better  for  them  to  have  died  in  Eg)'pt. 
When,  ten  months  aftenvards,  the  whole  nation  seemed   in 


The  Syvipatliy  of  Christ.  89 

danger  of  perisliing  througli  want  of  bread,  I  am  not  disposed 
to  judge  them  \ery  hardly,  or  to  think  they  were  conspicuous 
for  their  distrust  above  all  the  rest  of  mankind,  because  they 
cried  again,  "  Would  to  Ciod  we  had  died  in  Egypt !  "  But  it 
seems  inexcusable  that  their  unbelief  should  have  continued 
after  repeated  interferences  of  miraculous  power.  When  they 
wanted  water,  they  lost  faith  and  murmured ;  when  they 
became  weary  of  the  manna,  they  lost  faith  and  murmured  ; 
when  the  spies  returned  who  had  been  sent  to  search  out  the 
land  of  Canaan,  and  declared  how  strong  the  inhabitants  were, 
that  they  were  giants,  and  that  the  people  of  Israel  would  never 
be  able  to  overcome  them,  they  lost  faith  again,  and  murmured 
again,  and  cried  again,  "Would  to  God  we  had  died  in  the  land 
of  Egypt ! "  and  they  appointed  a  new  chief  in  the  place  of 
Moses  to  lead  them  back  to  slavery.  When  they  saw  the  Egyp- 
tians dead  upon  the  sea  shore,  they  could  sing  with  Moses  and 
with  Miriam  loud  songs  of  triumph,  and  when  they  were 
assembled  at  the  foot  of  Sinai  they  could  utter  solemn  vows,  say- 
ing, "  All  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  we  will  do  ; "  but  they  did 
not  "  hold  fast "  their  confidence,  and  so  they  were  destroyed. 
The  faith  of  the  Hebrew  Christians  to  whom  this  epistle  was 
addressed  was  also  exposed  to  severe  trials.  They  had  a 
whole  nation  against  them.  The  glorious  traditions  of  their 
race  seemed  against  them.  Their  education,  all  the  habits  and 
modes  of  thought  of  their  early  religious  life,  were  against 
them  too.  They  were  in  danger  of  being  driven  from  the 
temple  in  which  they  and  their  fathers  had  worshipped,  from 
the  altars  at  which  they  and  their  fathers  had  sacrificed.  Repu- 
tation, property,  life  itself,  Avere  imperilled  by  their  Christian 
profession.  It  was  hard  for  them  to  hold  it  fast.  They  were 
iempted  to  conceal  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the 
writer  attaches  great  importance  to  the  external  act  as  well  as 
to  the  internal  principle.  Profession  was  indispensable  if  the 
(!!)hristian  church  was  to  win  new  adherents,  if  the  Christian 
faith  was  to  be  upheld  against  Jewish  hatred,  if  the  truth  which 
had  been  revealed  to  those  who  believed  in  Christ,  was  to  be 
made  known  to  all  mankind  and  transmitted  to  future  genera- 
tions.     Persecution   was  no  reason  for   concealina;   the   con- 


90  The  Sympathy  of  Christ. 

victions  of  the  heart.  Even  to  escape  loss  and  injury,  they 
must  not  "forsake  the  assembhng  of  themselves  together," 
after  the  manner  of  some  less  courageous  and  less  earnest 
brethren.  Profession  of  faith  was  a  duty  they  owed  to  Christ 
and  a  duty  they  owed  to  man.     It  is  the  same  now. 

I  know  that  some  men  plead  that  they  can  honour  Christ  by 
a  quiet,  upright,  generous  life,  without  any  unequivocal  decla- 
ration of  their  loyalty  to  him  ;  but  surely,  if  they  stand  apart 
from  the  church,  they  must  see  that  their  endeavours  to  do 
well  are  not  certain  to  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  their 
Christian  faith.  Their  very  excellence  may  be  perverted  by 
others  to  Christ's  dishonour ;  for  they  may  be  pointed  to  as 
proofs  that  there  are  some  who  have  not  faith  enough  to  enter 
the  church,  who  are  as  truthful,  as  honest,  as  kindly,  and  as 
regular  too  at  public  worship,  as  those  who  have ;  and  that, 
therefore,  a  firm  and  decided  devotion  to  Christ  can  be  of  no 
great  importance. 

But  although  there  may  be  some  of  you  whom  it  may  be 
necessary  to  remind  of  the  duty  of  making  a  profession,  and  of 
holding  fast  to  it,  there  are  many  more  who  are  in  danger,  while 
holding  fast  your  profession,  of  permitting  your  inner  life  to 
decay.  Are  any  of  you  already  conscious  of  this  ? — conscious 
that  you  think  of  the  sins  you  have  renounced  with  less  hatred 
than  formerly ;  confess  the  sins  you  commit  with  less  sorrow ; 
strive  to  live  a  holy  life  with  less  eagerness  ;  read  the  holy- 
Scriptures  with  less  thoughtfulness  and  solicitude  ;  engage  in 
Christian  work  less  zealously ;  give  your  money  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor  and  the  maintenance  and  diffusion  of  the  Gospel 
with  less  cheerfulness  ;  pray  to  God  less  fervently ;  find  less 
joy  in  contemplating  the  perfections  of  His  character,  andl 
in  meditating  on  the  words  and  the  deeds  by  which  He  has 
revealed  Himself  to  man  ?  Are  you  getting  impatient  under 
the  pressure  of  Christian  duty,  weary  of  dull  and  apparently 
unprofitable  endeavours  to  subdue  ill  temper,  to  check  hasty 
speech,  to  root  up  some  evil  passion,  to  live  in  unbroken  corrt- 
munion  with  God  ?  If  so,  take  heed  !  If  it  was  a  crime  to 
abandon  the  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  because  of  loss  and 
suffering,  what  must  it  be,  when  fidelity  to  Him  is  threatened 


The  Sympathy  of  Christ.  91 

by  no  perils,  by  no  penalties,  to  let  the  faith  itself  decay  and 
perish  ? 

II. 

Steadfastness  in  the  profession  of  Christ,  steadfastness  in  the 
practical  obedience  which  that  profession  implies,  is  not  im- 
possible,— "  seeing  that  we  have  a  great  High  Priest  that  is 
passed  through  the  heavens,  yesiis  the  Son  of  God,  who  can 
sympathize  with  our  infirmities,  being  in  all  points  tempted  like  as 
we  are,  though  without  sin."  What  a  tranquillizing,  soothing 
transition  this  is  from  the  dark  and  terrible  thoughts  of  the 
earlier  parts  of  this  chapter.  It  is  like  a  bright,  pure,  sparkling 
stream,  singing  pleasant  music  and  making  the  green  grass  and 
beautiful  wild  flowers  grow  on  its  banks,  in  a  rugged  and 
desolate  country.  We  come  upon  it  with  the  same  sense  of 
security  and  joy  that  a  solitary  and  weary  traveller  feels  who 
has  lost  his  way  among  huge  mountains  and  has  become 
alarmed  as  the  darkness  is  gathering  around  him,  when  he 
strikes  upon  the  path  which  he  knows  will  bring  him  safely 
through  the  pass  and  into  the  valley  where  he  means  to  rest  for 
the  night.  It  is  like  the  shining  rainbow  on  the  retreating 
storm. 

Our  "  infirmities  "  may  sometimes  force  us  to  exclaim  that 
•continuance  in  well-doing  is  beyond  our  strength.  We  are  sure 
to  fail.  But  we  have  a  High  Priest  who  has  passed,  not 
through  the  veil  of  an  earthly  temple  to  stand  before  a  mere 
s>Tnbol  of  the  Divine  presence,  but  has  passed  through  the 
heavens  to  stand  before  the  very  throne  of  God.  And  while 
pleading  there  for  us,  He  will  remember  how  He,  too,  was 
sorely  tried  ;  how  His  human  weakness  quailed  in  the  presence 
of  suffering ;  and  how  He  was  tempted  to  turn  aside  from  the 
work  to  which  He  had  put  His  hand,  so  fruitless  and  poweriess 
seemed  all  His  endeavours  to  instruct,  to  warn,  to  bless  man- 
k:ind.  There  was  a  time  when  He  was  exceeding  sorrowful 
even  unto  death,  and  when  all  the  forces  of  His  human  nature, 
though  rooted  immoveably  in  a  Divine  steadfastness,  were 
straining  and  bending  like  the  trees  of  the  forest  under  the 
stress  of  a  vehement  storm ;  there  was  a  mysterious  agony  and  an 


92  The   Sympathy  of  Christ. 

earnest  prayer,  thrice  repeated,  that  if  it  were  possible  the  bitter 
cup  might  pass  from  Him.  He  who  has  passed  through  the 
heavens — our  great  High  Priest — is  the  man,  Christ  Jesus,  as 
well  as  the  Son  of  God.  He  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
our  infirmities  though  without  sin, — He  was  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are ;  tempted  by  human  weariness,  by 
human  weakness,  by  want  of  success,  by  the  failure  of  His. 
friends,  by  the  power  of  His  enemies  ;  tempted  to  abandon  His 
work  and  leave  the  world  unsaved.  Remembering  all  this.  He 
will  not  be  hard  on  us,  if  our  infirmities  make  us  shrink  from 
the  prolonged  and  exhausting  toil  in  which  serving  Him  and 
working  out  our  salvation  are  certain  to  involve  us. 

III. 

His  sympathy,  and  His  presence  in  heaven,  will  render  us  no 
service  unless  we  '■'■come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace  to  obtain 
His  mercy — ox  pity — and  His  grace  for  timely  he/p." 

(i)  We  should  notice,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  is  especially 
about  our  infirmities  that  we  are  told  to  speak  to  God.  It  is 
\\\\\\  these  Christ  can  sympathize.  In  the  next  chapter  we 
shall  see  that  since  He  Himself  was  compassed  with  weakness- 
He  "  can  have  compassion  "  on  those  in  whom  weakness  has 
led  to  sin  ;  but  it  is  not  said  that  He  "  sympathizes  "  with  sin. 
He  is  not  "  touched  with  a  feeling  "  of  that.  He  pities  them 
that  fall.  He  freely  forgives  the  penitent ;  in  a  moment,  He 
receives  back  into  the  joy  of  His  love  all  that  yearn  for  His 
pardon  ;  but  with  the  sins  of  human  nature  He  can  have  no 
sympathy  ;  with  its  weakness  He  can. 

It  is  a  very  significant  fact  that  we  have  come  to  use  the 
word  "  infirmities  "  to  describe  habits  and  tendencies  to  which 
the  Scriptures  always  give  a  harder  name.  We  use  it  to  denote 
a  fretful,  irritable  temper,  certain  forms  of  selfishness,  careless- 
ness of  speech,  and  many  other  sins  besides.  It  is  right  enough 
to  speak  to  God  about  these,  and  God  will  pardon  them ;  but 
let  us  take  care  to  call  them  by  their  right  name  ;  and,  mean- 
while, let  us  remember  that  if  we  spoke  to  God  oftener  about 
our  weaknesses  we  should  have  fewer  sins  needing  forgiveness- 
and  fewer  sorrows  needing  consolation. 


The  Sympathy  of  Christ.  93 

What  then  are  the  '"  iiifiniiitics  "  of  which  the  writer  speaks  ? 
They  are  those  forms  of  human  weakness  which  make  lis 
shrink  from  painful  duty,  or  make  it  diflicult  for  us  to  persevere 
month  after  month  in  well-doing. 

There  are  certain  physical  conditions  in  which  it  is  hard  to 
trust  quietly  in  God's  love,  and  to  keep  the  image  of  Christ  in 
our  own  character  and  conduct  unclouded.  The  physical 
•exhaustion  which  follows  severe  pain  or  excessive  anxiety  and 
labour,  seems  sometimes  to  drain  away  all  our  moral  strength. 
The  weakness  of  the  flesh  makes  the  spirit  weak  too.  Utter 
lassitude  comes  upon  us,  and  strenuous  exertion  seems  impossi- 
ble. He  to  whom  the  angels  ministered  after  His  forty  days' 
fast  in  the  w^ilderness,  knows  what  this  infirmity  is,  and  from 
Him  we  shall  have  timely  helj). 

Or  the  conflict  between  plain  duty  and  the  common  instincts 
and  affections  of  our  nature  may  assume  a  severe  form.  We 
may  be  required  by  conscience  to  al)andon  prospects  of  ease 
and  comfort  and  honour  ;  we  may  have  to  incur  the  distrust 
iind  opposition  of  friencis  ;  to  inflict  pain  on  those  we  most 
dearly  love  ;  to  imperil  or  sacrifice  the  chief  joy  of  our  earthly 
life  ;  to  provoke  the  hostility  of  powerful  enemies, — slander  we 
cannot  repel,  calumny  we  cannot  silence,  reproach  which 
seems  just,  and  which  we  must  be  content  to  bear  :  it  is  hard 
to  master  and  ([uiet  the  agitation  of  our  heart,  to  triumph  over 
natural  passions  in  the  strength  of  a  Divine  affection  ;  but  He 
who  was  "  tempted  like  as  we  are  "  will  give  us  timely  help. 

Above  all,  when  we  are  disheartened  by  disappointment 
in  our  Christian  work,  when  friends  melt  away  from  our  side 
like  deserters  from  an  army  which  has  been  broken  in  spirit  b}' 
long  marches,  or  by  repeated  defeats  ;  when  our  labours  are 
spoiled  by  the  negligence  or  mistakes  or  inconsistencies  of 
those  in  whom  we  have  confided  ;  when  we  are  thwarted  in 
our  best  endeavours  by  secret  jealousy,  by  muttered  suspicion, 
by  open  hatred  ;  when  prayer  seems  to  have  no  power ;  when 
toil  seems  wasted  ;  when  the  understandings  of  men  remain 
imconvinced  by  the  most  conclusive  arguments,  their  hearts 
untouched  by  the  most  affecting  motives,  their  consciences 
hardened  against  the  most  startling  appeals ;  when  tliosc  who 


94  The  Sympathy  of  Christ. 

had  begun  to  do  well  turn  back  into  sin,  and  those  who  liad 
long  been  faithful  are  gradually  drifting  away  from  what  they 
once  supremely  cared  for ;  when  no  plan  of  well-doing  can 
command  sympathy  or  aid,  no  right  principle  manly  support ; 
when  the  good  cause  seems  baffled  on  every  side,  and  yet  we 
are  called  to  struggle  on,  heart  and  flesh  failing  ; — then,  above 
all,  we  may  turn  to  Him  who  seemed  to  labour  in  vain  and 
spend  His  strength  for  nought,  and  He  will  sympathize  with 
our  weakness,  remembering  His  own.  He  will  rekindle  the 
sinking  flame  of  courage  and  hopefulness,  by  telling  us  that 
He  Himself  had  to  be  bruised  and  put  to  grief,  to  be  despised 
and  rejected  of  men,  before  He  could  see  of  the  travail  of  His 
soul  and  be  satisfied  ;  it  was  for  the  suffering  of  death  that  He 
was  crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  He  will  not  upbraid  us 
in  our  utmost  prostration,  but  will  listen  graciously,  for  He 
knoweth  our  frame  and  remembereth  that  we  are  dust. 

He  will  give  us  " twiely  help;"  help,  prompt  and  according 
to  the  urgency  and  greatness  of  our  necessity;  for  He  knows 
that  we  shall  utterly  faint  but  for  His  merciful  support.  If  He 
seems  to  wait  long,  let  us  believe  that  He  answers  us  some- 
times by  His  very  waiting ;  that  He  is  working  for  us  silently 
and  surely  though  as  yet  we  see  not  the  effects  of  His  love ; 
and  that  He  is  giving  us  help  if  our  trust  in  Him  has  not 
utterly  failed. 

When  we  speak  to  Him  of  our  infirmities  we  may  speak 
.  "boldly."  There  are  many  prayers  we  can  offer  only  with  shame 
and  sorrow,  whatever  may  be  the  strength  of  our  conviction 
that  Christ  will  answer  them.  When  we  confess  our  sins;  tell 
Him  that  we  have  left  the  work  undone  we  longed  to  have  the 
joy  and  honour  of  doing,  or  have  done  it  badly ;  that  we  have 
violated  our  vows,  broken  our  resolutions,  listened  to  the  lies 
of  the  devil,  yielded  to  the  passions  of  the  flesh,  dishonourably 
bowed  the  knee  to  the  usurped  authority  of  the  v/orld ; — we 
must  hide  our  face  and  sink  before  Him  into  the  dust.  But  of 
our  '■'■infirmities"  we  may  speak  "boldly."  They  awaken  His 
sympathy,  not  His  indignation;  they  recall  to  His  remem- 
brance those  days  and  nights  of  His  own  earthly  history,  by 
which  the  mighty  and  glorious  company  of  kings  and  priests 


TJic  Sympathy  of  Christ.  95 

that  stand  before  His  throne  were  exalted  to  immortal  blessed- 
ness. 

As  a  child  goes  to  its  mother  and  tells  her,  not  of  the  faults 
which  need  her  pardon,  but  of  weariness  when  the  evening 
comes,  and  asks  to  be  laid  peacefully  to  rest — or  of  the  heated 
brain,  and  parched  lips,  and  languid  limbs  which  are  the  signs 
of  sickness,  perhaps  of  danger,  and  asks  to  be  lovingly  watched 
and  tenderly  comforted  and  cared  for, — so  may  we  go  to  the 
throne  of  grace  to  obtain  pity  and  timely  help,  whenever  we 
are  conscious  that  through  our  infirmities  we  are  in  danger  of 
ceasing  to  hold  fast  to  our  profession  and  to  all  that  profession 
implies. 

I  cannot  close  without  asking  you  to  consider  the  wonderful 
and  perfect  harmony  in  the  revelation  of  God  through  Christ 
Jesus,  of  the  most  awful  and  alarming  motives  to  holy  living 
and  the  loving  recognition  of  all  the  weakness  and  sorrow  of 
humanity.  While  listening  to  the  terrible  warnings  of  the 
earlier  part  of  this  chapter,  we  might  well  tremble  and  be  filled 
not  merely  with  dismay,  but  with  despair.  Now,  the  faintest 
heart  may  be  at  peace,  and  the  weakest  may  look  up  with 
hope. 

It  is  by  the  action  of  these  diverse  but  not  antagonistic 
spiritual  forces  that  the  highest  forms  of  Christian  character  are 
built  up.  If  I  am  affected  only  by  the  tremendous  energy  of 
the  truths  which  affirm  my  guilt  and  my  danger,  I  shall 
become,  at  the  best,  hard  and  stern  in  my  religious  life,  and 
shall  serve  God  with  the  spirit  of  a  slave ;  if  I  am  affected  only 
by  those  which  affirm  the  gentleness  of  Christ's  compassion, 
the  throne  of  conscience  will  be  built  on  the  drifting  sand,  I 
shall  be  destitute  of  the  resoluteness  and  constancy  of  a  will 
which  recognises  the  majesty  of  the  Divine  law,  and  my  religion 
will  become  a  thing  of  sentimental  emotion  and  intermittent 
excitement.  The  true  Christian  life  is  at  once  vigorous  and 
lovely,  strong  and  tender,  uniting  reverential  awe  and  childlike 
trust,  great  fear  and  great  joy  ;  a  noble  tree,  with  roots  which 
have  penetrated  far  into  dark  and  hidden  depths,  a  trunk  of 
colossal  strength,  mighty  branches  which  have  \n-ebtled  with 
many  a  winter's  storm  ;  and  yet  the  roots  are  covered  \\'\\X\ 


g6  TJlc  Sympathy  of  Christ. 

velvet  moss,  and  the  green  ivy  and  the  graceful  woodbine  cling 
to  the  trunk  and  festoon  the  branches ;  and  over  all  there  is  a 
boundless  exuberance  of  foliage,  in  which  sunlight  and  shadow 
make  each  other  more  beautiful ;  and  the  sweet  songs  of  birds 
fill  it  with  music  by  day  and  the  pleasant  murmur  of  summer 
winds  by  night. 


THE  PRIESTHOOD  OF  CHRIST. 

"  For  every  high  priest  taken  from  among  men  is  ordained  for  men  in  things 
pertaining  to  God,  that  he  may  offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  fur  sins,"  &c. 
Hebrews  v,  i-io. 

Some  of  you  may  be  ready  to  ask  what  moral  and  religious 
good  we  may  hope  to  derive  from  the  study  of  the  old  Jewish 
ritual.  What  have  we  to  do  with  temples,  and  priests,  and 
altars,  and  sacrifices  ?  All  these  things  belong  to  a  remote  age ; 
to  us  they  have  no  significance  ;  let  us  rather  enquire  what 
the  New  Testament  has  to  say  about  ourselves,  our  own  duties, 
and  our  own  destiny. 

Tet  me  acknowledge  that  I  am  not  among  the  number  ot 
those  who  seem  to  believe  that  there  is  more  religious  truth  in 
the  writings  of  Moses  than  in  the  four  Gospels,  and  that  the 
theory  of  Christian  doctrine  is  more  fully  developed  in  the  book 
of  Leviticus  than  in  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  John.  The 
habit  of  turning  incessantly  to  the  minute  regulations  of  the  old 
ceremonial,  to  discover  the  profoundest  disclosures  of  the  miml 
and  will  of  God,  rests  on  a  complete  misunderstanding  of  the 
ancient  system,  and  it  is  Avell  if  it  does  not  issue  in  a  serious 
misapprehension  of  some  parts  of  the  more  perfect  revelation. 
The  directions  given  to  the  Jewish  priests  for  the  offering  of 
sacrifices  are  not,  I  think,  to  be  treated  like  a  set  of  religious 
riddles,  the  answers  to  which  include  the  deepest  truths  of  the 
New  Testament;  nor  were  the  Levitical  institutions  spiritual 
hieroglyphics  intended  to  teach  Christian  people  a  mysterious, 
esoteric  wisdom  which  the  apostles  failed  to  impart. 

And  yet  I  am  not  disposed  to  regard  the  ancient  faith  and 
rites  of  Judaism  as  worthless  to  ourselves.  When  I  remember 
that  for  more  than  sixteen  centuries  the  religious  life  of  a  nation 

H 


98  TJie  Priesthood  of  Christ. 

was  sustained  and  expressed  by  those  singular  ceremonies, 
they  at  once  become  an  object  of  practical  interest  to  me 
— I  want  to  know  what  there  was  in  them  which  accounts 
for  their  permanence  and  their  power.  The  interest  becomes 
still  deeper  when  I  remember  that  whatever  measure  of 
responsibility  the  Christian  apostles  may  have  assumed  in 
relation  to  the  minute  and  infallible  accuracy  of  the  old  Jewish 
books,  it  is  implied  throughout  the  New  Testament  that  the 
Jewish  system  itself  was  founded  by  the  command  of  God,  and 
defended  through  successive  generations  by  His  wisdom  and 
power.  And  I  soon  discover  that,  although  it  is  absurd  to  look 
into  the  more  elementary  revelation  for  what  Christ  Himself 
has  not  revealed,  there  is  very  much  in  the  old  Testament 
system  which  assists  me  in  understanding  New  Testament 
teaching. 

The  writers  of  the  Christian  Scriptures  were  all  Jews  :  every 
one  of  them  had  lived  till  manhood  in  fellowship  with  his 
Jewish  countr}'men, — -praying  in  the  temple,  offering  sacrifices, 
attending  the  feasts ;  and  some  of  their  AVTitings  were  written 
for  readers  who  had  received  Jewish  culture.  Hence  the 
language  employed  can  only  be  rightly  understood  by  knowing 
what  it  meant  when  used  by  Jews  and  addressed  to  Jews. 
"Words  are  not  arbitrary  creations  of  the  human  intellect — they 
grow  out  of  the  life  and  thought  of  a  people ;  and  you  cannot 
know  their  meaning  without  knowing  something  of  the  people 
who  employ  them.  If  I  want  to  know  for  instance,  what  St. 
Paul  meant  when  he  talked  about  sacrifice^  I  must  ask,  not  what 
is  the  meaning  of  that  term  among  ourselves,  but  what  it  meant 
when  Jews  used  it  eighteen  hundred  years  ago — for  words 
change  their  meaning  with  the  changing  creeds  and  life  of  men. 
Hence  the  institutions  of  the  Old  Testament  are,  to  a  large 
extent,  a  dictionary  in  which  I  learn  the  true  sense  of  the 
language  of  the  New;  but,  to  use  it  rightly,  it  is  clearly 
necessary  that  Ave  should  be  very  careful  not  to  take  our 
technical  theology  v/ith  us  when  we  tuni  to  the  dictionar)',  but 
should  let  it  speak  for  itself. 

Again,  it  is  the  custom  of  anatomists  to  illustrate  the  structure 
of  the  human  body — the  highest  and   most  perfect  form  of 


TJic  Priesthood  of  C J  wist.  gc) 

physical  life — by  comparing  it  part  by  part  with  the  structure  of 
inferior  animals ;  and  they  tell  us  that  they  can  detect  many 
instructive  analogies  of  formation  and  function  between  certain 
parts  of  the  human  body  and  certain  parts  of  the  body  of  many 
creatures  whose  physical  organisation  seems  at  first  sight  to  be 
altogether  unlike  our  own.  The  simpler  structure  of  the  animal 
enables  them  sometimes  to  solve  questions  which  had  quite 
baffled  them  in  investigating  the  more  complex  structure  of 
man.  And  so  the  more  elementary  form  of  religious  life  among 
the  Jews  will  sometimes  assist  us  in  comprehending  some  of  the 
more  mysterious  and  difficult  parts  of  the  Christian  faith.  Only, 
again,  it  is  clearly  necessary  that  we  should  not  imagine  that 
the  Old  Testament  is  the  same  as  the  New, — as  rich,  as 
complicated,  as  profound  in  its  revelation  of  God  and  of  our 
relations  to  Him, — but  should  take  it  just  as  it  stands,  and  try 
to  learn  what  the  temple,  and  the  priesthood,  and  the  sacrifices 
were,  in  the  old  times,  to  the  people  among  whom  they  were 
instituted. 

And  now,  let  us  see  how  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  illustrates 
one  aspect  of  the  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
functions  of  the  Jewish  High  Priest,  and  let  us  remember  that 
in  his  teaching  as  well  as  in  his  direct  exhortation  he  has  before 
him  one  great  end,  of  which  he  never  for  a  moment  loses 
sight, — preventing  these  Jewish  Christians  from  drifting  back  to 
their  old  faith. 

"  £very  High  Priest  beitig  take?i  from  among  men  is  ordained 
— or  appointed — for  men  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  that  he 
may  offer  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sini"  In  other  words,  his 
primary  function  is,  not  to  teach,  but  to  present  to  God  the 
expressions  of  human  homage,  and  to  offer  sacrifice  for  human 
sins  :  and  he  belongs  to  the  race  which  he  has  to  represent  in 
the  Divine  presence.  He  must  be  a  man  himself,  that  he  may 
"  have  compassion  on  the  igno?'ant  and  on  them  that  are  out  of  the 
way — being  himself  also  compassed  with  infirmity  "  whicli  some- 
times betrays  him,  too,  into  sin — and  so  he  has  to  "offer 
sacrifices  for  his  own  sins  as  well  as  for  the  sins  of  the people.^^ 

The  Jewish  Christians  only  needed  these  brief  hints  to  recall 
to  their  minds  the  central  figure  of  their  ancient  worship.     At 


100  The  Priesthood  of  Christ. 

once,  the  High  Priest  stood  before  them  with  his  unique 
sanctity,  his  high  prerogative  of  entering  once  a  year  into  the 
hidden  sanctuary  where  for  ages  there  was  a  visible  symbol  of 
the  Divine  presence,  and  where  he,  the  representative  of  the 
whole  nation,  of  the  meanest  and  most  gtiilty,  as  well  as  of  the 
greatest  and  holiest  among  them,  stood  in  an  awful  sense  face 
to  face  with  God.  They  saw  in  him,  in  the  office  he  held,  in 
the  duties  he  discharged,  this  great  fact  visibly  set  forth — that 
man  was  not  denied  access  to  God  :  even  when  they  had 
grievously  sinned,  when  they  were  suffering  dreadful  chastise- 
ments for  their  offences — their  country  desolate,  their  cities 
l^urned  with  fire, — still  the  High  Priest  went  into  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  and  God  permitted  him  to  approach  the  mercy-seat. 
And  the  priest  who  was  thus  suffered,  as  the  representative  of 
the  whole  people,  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  was  not 
an  angel,  but  a  man ;  not  a  sinless  man  either,  but  compassed 
.about  with  infirmity  like  the  weakest  of  his  race.  He  had  to 
commence  the  solemnities  of  the  great  Day  of  Atonement  by 
•divesting  himself  of  his  gorgeous  robes,  and  offering  a  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  himself  and  his  family,  acknowledging  that  he 
was  a  sinner,  and  so  telling  the  nation  that  a  sinful  man  might 
draw  near  to  God. 

I  do  not  think  that  in  ancient  times  good  men  saw  much 
more  than  this  in  the  office  and  duties  of  the  High  Priest, 
though  in  later  ages  there  were  unmistakeable  indications  that 
the  office  was  to  culminate  in  a  higher  and  more  permanent 
appointment.  What  they  saw  in  the  sacrifices  I  must  reserve 
for  another  time;  but  even  this  was  a  great  thing.  The 
institution  of  the  Priesthood,  maintained  by  visible  rites  and 
ceremonies  the  conviction,  that  access  to  God  was  granted  to 
every  man,  no  matter  how  guilty ;  for  the  representative  of  the 
religious  life  of  the  people,  himself  exposed  to  temptation,  could 
enter  into  the  court  of  the  temple  where  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  God  was  peculiarly  manifested. 

The  whole  significance  and  worth  of  the  High  Priesthood 
depended  upon  the  fact  that  it  was  of  Divine  appointment. 
The  High  Priest  was  set  apart,  "called"  by  God  Himself  to 
discharge  the  functions  of  his  office.     He  was  not  appointed 


The  Priesthood  of  Christ.  lor 

by  man,  for  then  his  appointment  would  only  have  indicated 
man's  yearning  after  God ;  he  was  appointed  by  God,  and 
therefore  his  appointment  indicated  that  it  was  God's  own  will 
that  man  should  have  access  to  the  Divine  presence.  "  No  man 
taketh  this  office  to  himself,  but  he  that  is  called  of  God,  as  was 
Aaron." 

These,  then,  are  the  two  principal  ideas  of  the  first  four 
verses  :  first,  that  the  Jewish  High  Priest,  appointed  to  offer 
gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sin,  was  a  sinful  man  himself,  and  able 
therefore  to  think  compassionately  of  sinners, — and,  secondly, 
that  he  was  appointed  by  God,  and  therefore  his  functions  were 
not  a  mere  expression  of  human  want  and  solicitude,  but  a 
proof  that  God  Himself  wished  men  to  draw  near  to  Him. 

And  now  see  in  what  manner  the  A\Titer  shows  these  faltering 
and  hesitating  Jewish  Christians  how  unnecessary  it  was  for 
them  to  turn  back  to  the  ancient  faith,  and  that  they  had  in 
their  new  faith  all,  and  more  than  all,  they  had  in  the  old. 

I. 

First,  Were  those  ancient  priests  appointed  by  God  Himself 
to  their  priestly  office?  Christ,  too,  is  Priest  by  the  same 
authority.  He  '■'■did  not  glorify  Himself  to  be  ?nadc  a  High 
Priest'" — did  not  assume  the  office  or  the  name  unbidden. 
According  to  their  own  interpretation  of  their  own  Scriptures, 
the  Messiah — and  they  acknowleged  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah, 
though  they  Avere  hankering  after  the  comfort  and  strength  of 
Jewish  ceremonialism, — the  Messiah  was  the  Son  of  God;  and 
God  had  said  to  Him,  "  Thou  art  a  Priest  for  ever,  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedek ;"  a  greater  thing  that,  than  to  be  in  the 
line  of  the  Aaronic  priests. 

I  cannot  believe  that  in  thus  asserting  on  Christ's  behalf  a 
Divine  appointment  to  the  Priesthood,  the  writer  was  merely 
making  use  of  absurd  Jewish  prejudices  to  confirm  his  readers 
in  the  Christian  faith.  The  passion  for  a  Priest— a  Divinely 
appointed  Priest — seems  to  be  an  instinct  of  the  human  soul. 
I  think  most  men  will  say  : — There  are  times  when  I  am  so 
disheartened   by   the   consciousness   of  my   moral    weakness^ 


I02  The  Priesthood  of  Christ. 

when  the  contrast  between  the  Divine  purity  and  my  own 
sinfulness  seems  to  me  so  appaUing,  that  I  have  no  courage  to 
speak  to  God  myself;  times  when  I  can  perfectly  understand 
how  it  is  that  my  Roman  Catholic  brother  clings  to  his  saints 
to  intercede  for  him,  and  to  his  priests  to  pronounce  the 
absolution  of  his  sins  ;  times  when  I  am  unutterably  thankful — 
having  a  better  and  purer  faith — that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
representative  of  the  whole  human  race,  specially  of  all  that 
obey  Him.  Yes,  what  the  High  Priest  was  to  the  Jew,  Jesus 
Christ  is  to  me.  The  conscience-stricken  Israelite  who  was 
tormented  by  the  remembrance  of  his  wrong-doing  and  was 
passionately  crying  out  to  God,  "  Cast  me  not  away  from  Thy 
presence,"  saw  the  Priest  cleanse  himself,  offer  sacrifices  for 
himself  and  the  people,  and  then  enter  into  the  place  set  apart 
as  the  very  presence-chamber  of  the  Most  High.  What  did 
that  mean  ?  What  can  it  mean,  might  the  sinful  Jew  exclaim, 
except  this,  that  I,  poor,  guilty,  miserable  man  that  I  am,  have 
not  lost  all  hope  of  the  Divine  help  and  pity  ?  the  priest  yonder 
goes  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  by  God's  own  appointment,  for 
me,  for  I  too  am  a  child  of  Abraham,  and  have  my  share  in  all 
that  the  High  Priesthood  represents. 

If,  at  this  moment,  the  brave  though  unhappy  race  which  is 
struggling  to  throw  off  the  crushing  despotism  of  Russia,  were 
invited  to  send  a  representative  to  the  English  court,  to  the 
French  court — what  would  it  mean?  Why,  as  soon  as  the 
heroic  people,  who  seem  to  have  found  inspiration  and  hope  in 
their  very  misery,  immoveable  resolution  in  the  very  desperate- 
ness  of  their  cause,  discovered  that  one  of  their  leaders  was 
received  in  Paris  and  another  in  London,  they  would  see  in 
these  facts  the  clear  proof  that  it  was  the  determination  of  two 
great  empires  to  redress  their  wrongs  and  to  assist  them  in  the 
fight  for  freedom.  What  would  it  matter  to  them  that  in  one 
wild  skirmish  after  another,  they  were  miserably  defeated,  and 
driven  for  their  very  lives  into  the  dark  forests  of  the  land  they 
have  resolved  to  save  ? — the  presence  of  their  acknowledged 
and  invited  representatives  in  the  capitals  of  England  and 
France,  Avould  be  a  firm  rock  on  which  to  rest  their  confidence 
that  their  miseries  and  wrongs  had  touched  the  heart  of  two 


TJic  Pries t/iood  of  CJirisl.  103 

nations   which    could   give    them    efficient    support,    and    that 
therefore  the  emancipation  of  their  country  was  certain. 

When  I  see  Christ  at  the  right  hand  of  God  I  reason  in  the 
same  way.  What  does  His  presence  yonder  in  heaven  mean  ? 
'^'^ He  glorified  not  Himself  in  being  made  a  High  Priest"  He 
was  appointed  to  it  by  God.  He  is  the  great  Representative 
of  our  reUgious  Hfe  ;  of  mine, — for  I,  too,  am  a  man ;  of  mine, 
for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  and  He  came  to  save  sinners.  Why  is 
He  in  heaven  at  all,  except  that  God  is  on  my  side,  not 
against  me, — on  my  side  vv'hen  I  am  beaten,  as  well  as  when  I 
am  victorious ;  wants  to  help  me ;  is  resolved  to  do  it,  if  I  will 
only  let  Him  ?  And  when  the  darkest  and  stormiest  hours 
come,  I  may  forget  all  my  danger  and  trouble,  and  master  all 
my  dread  lest  God  Himself  should  forsake  me,  by  looking  unto 
Jesus — the  Divinely-appointed  Head  of  the  human  race, 
through  whom  we  may  all,  even  the  v/orst  and  the  Aveakest  of 
us,  return  to  God. 

II. 

But,  secondly,  the  Jewish  High  Priests  were  not  only 
appointed  by  God,  they  were  men  themselves ;  and  their 
humanity,  with  all  its  moral  weakness,  gave  great  additional 
significance  to  their  approach  to  God  in  behalf  of  their  brethren. 
We  can  conceive  of  an  angel  being  constituted  the  religious 
representative  of  mankind,  and  even  his  appointment  to  that 
office  would  be  a  proof  of  God's  mercy  \  but  the  heart  has 
greater  peace  now  that  a  man,  sharing  our  own  infirmities, 
stands  before  God  for  us.  We  feel  that  God  is  not  keeping 
our  race  at  a  distance,  as  being  too  far  gone  in  sin  to  possess, 
as  yet,  free  access  to  Him :  and  if  our  own  nature  thus 
approaches  God  in  the  person  of  our  Representative,  we  feel 
more  confident  that  all  our  difficulties  and  perils  will  be  sure  to 
awaken  the  Divine  compassion.  To  recur  to  the  illustration  I 
used  just  now, — it  would  be  something  if  the  English 
government  appointed  an  Englishman,  and  the  French  govern- 
ment a  Frenchman,  to  be  the  representative  at  their  respective 
courts  of  the  Polish  people, — but  it  would  be  far  more,  if  two 
patriotic   leaders   of   the   struggling  nation,    of   Polish   blood 


104  "^^^^  Priesthood  of  Christ. 

themselves,  were  invited  to  represent  their  countrymen.  The 
hufnanity  of  the  Jewish  priesthood  was  an  essential  element  of 
the  spell  Avhich  their  office  possessed  for  the  hearts  of  the 
Jewish  race. 

And,  by  the  way,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  doctrine 
recently  promulgated  with  authority  by  the  Romish  Church 
concerning  the  sinless  conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  will,  by 
removing  her  further  from  the  sympathies  of  men,  ultimately 
issue  in  weakening  the  attraction  of  her  intercession.  Part  of 
the  charm  of  the  intercession  of  the  Virgin  and  of  the  saints 
has  been  derived  from  this,  that  their  imperfections  when  on 
earth  seemed  likely  to  make  them  more  compassionate  now  to 
sinful  men  than  Christ  could  be,  who  knew  no  sin;  and  this 
semi-deification  of  the  Virgin,  if  practically  accepted  by  the 
members  of  the  Romish  Church,  will,  to  a  great  extent,  destroy 
the  more  confiding  trustfulness  with  which  their  prayers  have 
hitherto  been  offered  to  her.  If  their  present  creed  be  true, 
she  was  as  pure  from  all  evil  as  Christ  Himself,  pure  not  in  life 
merely,  but  by  the  very  mystery  of  her  birth. 

But  to  return  :  the  true  ground  of  sympathy  lies,  not  in 
common  sin,  but  in  common  struggles  and  common  weakness. 
The  man  who  has  been  exposed  to  trials  like  my  own,  if  his 
nature  was  as  sensitive  to  their  influence  as  mine,  will  feel  for 
me,  whether  he  was  more  or  less  successful  than  I  have,  been 
in  resisting  temptation  to  wrong-doing.  It  is  not  sin  that  makes 
a  man  compassionate,  but  the  consciousness  of  weakness, 
teaching  him  how  hard  it  is  not  to  sin.  It  is  not  by  distrusting 
God  in  times  of  suffering  that  our  pity  for  other  men  in  their 
sorrows  is  made  more  tender,  but  by  passing  through  and 
feeling  the  terrible  power  of  the  sufferings  by  which  their  faith 
is  tried. 

Already,  in  two  remarkable  and  touching  passages,  the  -writer 
of  this  Epistle  has  told  his  readers  that  Christ  can  sympathize 
with  their  weakness  on  account  of  His  personal  sufferings  and 
temptations  :  He  was  made  in  all  points  like  unto  his  brethren  ; 
He  can  be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infiiTnities  :  but  now 
he  returns  to  this  most  important  truth,  and  recalls  to  their 
remembrance  that  scene  of  agony  in  which  the  sorrows  of  the 


The  Priesthood  of  Christ.  105 

Lord  Jesus  appear  to  have  reached  an  ahuost  intolerable 
intensity,  and  His  strength  seems  to  have  been  almost  over- 
borne and  exhausted.  "///  the  days  of  His  flesh  when  He  had 
offered  up  strong  eryings  and  tears  tinio  Him  that  was  able  to  save 
Him  from  death" — from  death  into  which  He  was  fast  sinking 
through  the  greatness  of  His  mental  suffering, — ''He  was 
heard,''  and  His  fear  was  calmed  and  subdued.  There  are  no 
details  given  here  of  the  sufferings  in  Gethsemane ;  they  were 
too  well  known  to  all  Christian  people  for  it  to  be  necessary  to 
narrate  them ;  but  the  reference  is  clearly  to  the  agony  of  that 
dreadful  night. 

Perhaps  we  are  hardly  able  to  speak  at  all  about  the  source 
and  nature  of  these  sufferings.  No  human  eye  rested  on  Him 
through  the  struggles  of  that  terrible  hour :  even  the  disciples 
who  were  elected  to  watch  with  Him  slumbered ;  and  too  little 
is  told  us  to  afford  any  sure  ground  even  for  speculation  on  the 
elements  of  His  mysterious  sorrow.  I  think,  however,  that 
this  passage  affords  a  hint  that  it  was  the  prospect  of  all  that 
was  to  come  upon  Him  on  the  following  day — the  anticipation 
of  the  depths  of  anguish  into  which  he  would  be  plunged  when 
He  realised  on  the  cross  His  brotherhood  with  a  world  of 
sinners.  His  union  with  a  race  which  had  grievously  dishonom-ed 
God,  His  intimate  relationship  with  creatures  whose  crimes  had 
aroused  the  divine  anger  though  their  miseries  had  touched  the 
divine  pity; — the  vivid  anticipation  of  the  hitherto  unknovi-n 
horror  of  losing  for  a  little  time  the  vision  of  God's  face  through 
His  profound  realisation  of  the  wickedness  and  wretchedness 
of  mankind  ;  I  think  it  was  this  which  filled  Him  with  a  dismay 
which  made  Him  shrink, — not  in  the  constancy  of  His  resolved 
will,— but  in  the  infirmity  of  His  sensitive  affections,  from  the 
completion  of  His  work.  Do  you  not  think  that  when  the  Son 
of  God  hung  on  the  cross,  having  been  betrayed  by  one  of  His 
own  disciples  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  denied  with  curses  by 
another,  rejected  and  mocked  at  by  the  people  He  had  loved 
so  well,  given  up  to  popular  fury  by  the  guilty  weakness  of  the 
Roman  governor,  hunted  to  death  by  the  malignity  of  the 
Jewish  priests,  He  must  have  had  a  most  awful  vision  of  the 
terrible  evil  of  sin — must  have  entered  into  it,  as  His  holy  soul 


io6    •  The  Priesthood  of  C Jurist. 

had  never  entered  before.  As  He  hung  there,  with  the  darkness 
of  death  deepening  around  Him,  must  not  His  compassionate 
heart  have  realised  with  a  fearful  and  horrible  intensity  what 
death  had  been  already  to  millions  of  the  human  race — what 
it  would  be  to  millions  more — until,  just  as  we  ourselves, 
when  deeply  meditating  on  the  miseries  of  others,  sometimes 
sink  into  a  wretchedness  like  theirs  and  seem  to  share  their 
woe,  so  He,  pure  as  He  was  and  beloved  of  God,  felt  for  a 
time  as  though  He  were  descending  into  the  dreadful  gloom,  in 
company  with  all  who  had  died  with  the  crimes  of  a  wicked  life 
haunting  them,  and  the  terrors  of  God's  judgment  seat  and  a 
dreary  eternity  confronting  them  ?  All  the  anguish  and  horror 
of  the  whole  race  was  upon  Him ;  and  as  though  He  too  were 
among  the  guilty  and  condemned,  He  cried,  "My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me  !" 

I  suppose  He  saw  all  this  before  Him  in  that  lonely  hour  in 
Gethsemane,  and  He  was  filled  with  a  sorrow  which  threatened 
to  end  in  death :  and  with  strong  cryings  and  tears  He 
appealed  to  God — "  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me,  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 

And  then  an  angel  came  and  strengthened  Him,  not  at  the 
end  of  the  conflict  as  in  the  wilderness,  but  in  the  very  middle 
of  it ;  and  being  in  an  agony,  He  prayed  more  earnestly,  and 
though  using  substantially  the  same  words,  yet  there  is  a  change, 
now  it  is — "  O  my  Father,  if  this  cup  may  not  pass  from  me, 
except  I  drink  it,  '  Thy  will  be  done.'  "  And  a  third  time  He 
offered  the  same  prayer. 

"ZT^  7vas  heard:"  not  that  the  object  of  His  fear  was 
removed  ;  but  the  fear  itself  was  calmed  and  subdued ;  He  was 
able  to  look  forward  without  dismay  to  all  that  the  morrow 
would  bring.  "  Though  He  tvas  a  Son,  He  learned  obedience  l/y 
the  things  He  suffered." 

And  now,  will  any  one  venture  to  say  that  the  argument 
about  Priesthood,  which  culminates  in  a  truth  like  this,  might 
have  been  well  enough  for  Jews,  but  has  no  practical  interest 
for  us?  For  the  Jews  it  must  have  had  a  force  of  which  we 
can  hardly  conceive ;  for  it  lays  hold  of  precisely  those 
circumstances  of  humiliation  in  the  life  of  Christ  which,  when 


The  Priesthood  of  Christ.  107 

■contrasted  with  the  visible  splendour  and  grandeur  of  their  own 
early  faith,  made  them  ashamed  of  their  Christian  profession, 
and  transforms  these  circumstances  into  an  argument  of  mfinite 
pathos  for  trusting  in  Christ  still.  They  too  had  their  '''■fear" — 
a  fear  of  isolation  from  the  religious  and  political  life  of  their 
countrymen, — of  personal  sufiering  and  danger ;  but  this  fear, 
according  to  the  inspired  writer,  had  been  anticipated  and 
provided  for  in  Christ's  own  histor)-,  and  they  might  go  to  Him 
and  tell  Him  of  it  all. 

And  for  us  Gentiles,  living  in  an  atmosphere  of  doubt  and  of 
controversy,  it  seems  to  me  a  fact  worthy  of  very  serious 
thought,  and  suggestive  of  many  reflections  of  great  value  in 
relation  to  the  intellectual  troubles  of  our  time,  that  in  an 
Epistle  evidently  intended  to  assert  and  vindicate  the  pre- 
eminent dignity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  writer  does  not 
shrink  from  those  parts  of  Christ's  earthly  history  which  might 
seem  at  first  sight  most  unfriendly  to  his  purpose.  Beginning 
with  the  proof  that  the  Messiah  of  Jewish  hope  was  the  object 
of  angelic  worship,  was  the  Creator  of  all  material  tilings,  and 
upheld  them  all  by  the  word  of  His  power,  he  insists  here  with 
an  impassioned  earnestness  on  the  very  conflicts  and  sufferings 
which  most  clearly  prove  Him  to  be  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh 
of  our  flesh.  This  writer  was  no  fanatic,  bending  or  concealing, 
in  his  eagerness  to  glorify  the  object  of  his  adoration,  all  adverse 
circumstances  so  as  to  establish  his  own  theory. 

No,  this  old  argument  has  not  become  obsolete  :  its  form 
may  have  been  determined  by  the  intellectual  and  moral 
peculiarities  of  an  age  which  has  passed  away,  but  its  substance 
must  be  of  infinite  value  to  the  human  heart  so  long  as  the 
world  in  which  man  lives  is  darkened  with  sufiering,  and  man 
himself  is  conscious  that  the  vision  of  this  suffering  is  an 
agony  antl  a  terror.  Would  to  God  that  I  knew  how  to  tell 
you  all  that  these  words  seem  to  mean  ! — but  you  will  never 
find  it  out  till  the  time  comes  when  your  soul  is  so  lacerated 
by  your  own  griefs,  or  by  the  physical  tortures,  and  the  moral 
anguish,  and  the  comfortless  desolation  of  myriads  of  mankind, 
that  you  are  ready  to  think  that  God,  in  the  height  of  His 


Io8  The  Priesthood  of  Christ. 

perfect  and  eternal  blessedness,  must  be  incapable  of  sym- 
pathizing with  the  misery  of  the  human  race,  or  He  would 
never  have  permitted  such  sorrows  to  come  upon  it ;  and  then, 
when  heart  and  flesh  are  failing, — then,  in  the  breaking  up 
of  all  faith  in  the  Divine  goodness,  you  will  discover  that  there 
is  here  an  immoveable  rock  on  which  you  may  stand  firm  when 
floods  of  great  waters  are  heaving  darkly  and  tumultuously 
around  you.  It  is  not  merely  the  calm  pity  of  the  ever-blessed 
God,  who  has  been  surrounded  through  bright  millenniums 
with  the  songs  of  angels  crowned  with  everlasting  light  and 
making  sweetest  music  with  their  harps  of  gold,  that  watches 
over  the  destinies  of  men ;  there  is  One  at  His  side  in  yonder 
palace  of  eternal  joy, — the  brightness  of  His  glory,  the  express 
image  of  His  person, — who  Himself  once  sank  into  a  deeper 
darkness  than  ever  made  you  tremble,  and  realized  the  awful 
weight  and  burden  of  human  wretchedness  as  you  have  never 
realized  it ;  One  who,  in  a  world  of  misery,  stood  alone  in  an 
a\\^ul  supremacy  of  woe,  as  now  in  a  world  of  glory  He  stands 
alone  in  a  splendid  supremacy  of  bliss,  whose  title  was, 
"The  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief,"  whose 
symbol  of  dignity,  the  crown  of  thorns,  marked  Him  out  as  the 
very  chief  and  king  of  a  suffering  race  ;  One  who  being  Him- 
self Divine,  and  having  left  heaven  to  accomplish  a  work 
which  had  been  present  to  the  Divine  mind  from  eternity,  and 
in  which  all  the  previous  movements  of  the  Divine  government 
closed  and  culminated,  shrank  and  shuddered  in  His  weakness 
when  the  crisis  drew  near,  and  offered  up  prayers  and  suppli- 
cations with  strong  cryings  and  tears  unto  Him  that  was  able 
to  deliver  Him  from  death.  In  Him, — in  the  pitifulness  of 
His  heart, — in  the  fervour  of  His  sympathy, — who  will  not  rest 
with  unshaken  and  victorious  confidence  ?  Having  passed 
through  such  a  history,  and  risen  at  last  to  the  perfection  of 
power,  of  authority,  and  glory,  He  must  be  touched  with  a 
feeling  of  our  infirmities,  and  will  confer  eternal  salvation  on 
all  them  that  obey  Him. 


IGNORANCE   AND   APOSTASY. 

"Of  whom  we  have  many  tilings  to  say,  and  hard  to  be  uttered  *  *  * 
Leaving  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  let  us  go  on  unto  perfection 
*  *  *  It  is  impossible — if  they  shall  fall  away  to  renew  them  again  unto 
repentance."     Hebrews  v,  ii — vi,  8. 

It  appears  from  the  first  verse  of  this  passage  that  the  analogy 
between  the  priesthood  of  Melchizedek  and  the  priesthood  of 
Christ  presented  difficulties  to  the  minds  of  Jewish  Christians 
more  formidable  than  were  involved  in  any  of  the  discussions 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  Epistle.  Those  difficulties  were 
occasioned  principally,  perhaps,  by  the  habits  of  thought  which 
had  been  formed  and  strengthened  by  the  religious  discipline 
and  inspired  books  of  Judaism. 

Melchizedek  occupies  no  great  space  in  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures.  His  name  occurs  only  twice — in  the  narrative  of 
his  meeting  with  Abraham  after  the  recovery  of  the  prisoners 
and  spoils  which  had  been  carried  off  from  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah by  the  marauding  chiefs  of  certain  Eastern  tribes,  and 
in  the  iioth  Psalm,  in  which  it  is  declared  that  the  Messiah 
was  to  be  a  Priest  "after  the  order  of  Melchizedek."  To 
claim  for  him  any  kind  of  superiority  over  Aaron,  over  Moses, 
over  Abraham  himself,  would  be  likely  to  startle  an  ordinary 
Jew.  Aaron  was  the  head  of  a  line  of  priests  which  for 
sixteen  centuries  had  worn  the  sacred  vestments,  and  stood 
before  the  mercy-seat  on  behalf  of  the  Jewish  people.  Moses 
was  the  patriot  and  lawgiver  by  whom  their  fathers  had  been 
emancipated  from  Egyptian  bondage  and  organised  into  a 
nation.  From  the  fidelity  of  Abraham  to  Jehovah,  had  flowed 
all  the  distinctions  which  constituted  the  heritage  of  the  Jewish 
race — their  temple,  their  sacrifices,  their  priests,  their  prophets, 


1 1  o  Ignorance  and  Apostasy. 

the  miracles  which  had  been  wrought  to  defend  them  from  their 
enemies,  all  the  wonderful  interferences  of  Divine  power  and 
wisdom  by  which  the  nation  had  been  raised  to  secular  great- 
ness and  delivered  from  shameful  captivity,  all  their  hopes  of  a 
future  glory,  which  should  surpass  even  the  splendour  of 
Solomon's  reign  and  exalt  a  Jewish  prince  to  the  empire  of  the 
world.  The  writer  hesitates,  therefore,  at  the  very  threshold  of 
what  he  has  to  say.  It  will  be  hard  for  him  so  to  present  the 
truth  as  to  make  it  clearly  understood ;  and,  what  makes  the 
case  worse,  those  whom  he  is  addressing  have  become  "  dull  of 
hearing."  Time  was,  when  they  had  greater  quickness  and 
readiness  of  perception — their  minds  were  open  once,  to 
receive  whatever  new  teaching  might  come  from  authorized 
instructors ;  they  had  been  candid,  eager  to  know  the  truth, 
disposed  to  make  any  effort  to  deal  with  it  fairly  and  to  grasp 
it  firmly.  But  their  intellectual  clearness  had  been  injured  by 
the  decline  of  their  moral  and  sj)iritual  character.  What  they 
knew  already  about  Christ  had  involved  them  in  troubles, 
conflicts,  and  losses ;  and  there  was  no  anxiety  to  know  more. 
Their  minds  had  gradually  been  closing  up.  Jewish  prejudice, 
spiritual  declension,  had  made  them  not  only  indifferent  to  any 
new  revelations  of  Christian  doctrine,  but  positively  indisposed 
and  almost  incompetent  to  learn  any  more.  "  Considering  the 
time"  that  they  had  believed  in  Christ,  they  ought  to  have  so 
mastered  the  characteristic  truths  of  the  Christian  faith  as  to 
have  become  able  to  teach  others ;  but,  instead  of  this,  they 
themselves  still  needed  to  be  taught  some  of  its  elementary 
principles.  They  were  like  little  children  still,  needing  " milk" 
incapable  of  living  on  '■^strong  meat."  It  would  not  do  for 
anyone  who  taught  them  to  speak  as  though  they  had  made 
any  great  progress.  Everything  must  be  made  very  simple. 
The  greatest  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  misunderstanding. 
What  ought  to  have  been  obvious  must  receive  abundant 
illustration.  What  ought  to  have  been  long  familiar  must  be 
frequently  reiterated. 

Their  ignorance  was  the  result  of  sin.  They  had  become 
weary  of  the  troubles  into  which  their  new  faith  had  brought 
them;  and  they  did  not  care  to  learn  more  about  it.     They 


Ignorance  and  Apostasy.  1 1 1 

liad  also  permitted  their  old  faith  to  regain  much  of  its  power 
over  them,  and  so  not  only  had  their  love  for  Christ,  and  their 
devotion  to  Him,  become  less  fervent,  but  the  clearer  religious 
light  which  had  once  shone  in  their  intellect,  had  been 
darkened. 

I. 

I  wish  you  to  consider  whether  the  very  inadequate  know- 
ledge of  Christian  truth  existing  among  ourselves  is  not 
traceable  to  similar  causes.  "  Ye  ought  to  be  teachers;"  and  yet 
is  it  not  the  common  confession  of  many  Christian  people  that 
they  need  to  be  taught  again  "  the  first  principles  "  of  the  gospel  ? 
They  make  the  confession  without  shame ;  they  seem  almost  to 
think  that  there  is  some  kind  of  virtue  in  it.  I  believe  that  if 
they  had  lived  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  an  apostle  had 
told  them  that  he  wanted  to  speak  to  them  about  Melchizedek, 
but  found  it  hard  to  present  the  truth  in  a  form  sufficiently  clear 
to  be  quite  intelligible,  they  would  have  said  that  they  would 
greatly  prefer  that  he  should  leave  the  whole  subject  untouched  ; 
that  they  Hked  the  simple  gospel, — the  simpler  the  better; 
that  what  they  wanted  was  "milk;"  that  they  had  no  taste  for 
difficult  questions  ;  that  they  liked  to  have  their  hearts  moved ; 
that  this  doctrinal  teaching  of  which,  unfortunately,  he  and 
some  of  his  brethren  seemed  so  fond,  was  quite  above  them, 
and  did  them  no  good;  that  there  were  many  things  in  his 
sermons  "hard  to  be  understood  ;" — that  they  wished  he  would 
be  more  "obvious;"  and  that  a  Christian  teacher  was  bound  to 
be  constantly  repeating  the  elementary  facts  and  truths  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

Now  this  inspired  writer  refuses  to  listen  to  any  thing  of  the 
kind.  He  does  not  for  a  moment  admit  that  it  was  any  fault 
in  him  to  be  reaching  constantly  after  those  Divine  treasures 
which  lay  beyond  the  comprehension  of  some  of  his  readers. 
"  Ve  ought  to  be  teachers."  The  cause  of  all  the  difficulty  is  that 
you  have  become  dull  of  hearing.  You  are  babes — when  you 
ought  to  be  strong  men. 

There  is  something  positively  ludicrous,  were  it  not  very  sad, 
in  so  many  Christian  people — good  sort  of  people  too — clinging 


112  Ignorance  and  Apostasy. 

to  the  idea  that  it  is  quite  the  right  thing  for  them  to  continue 
to  the  end  of  their  days  "  babes  in  Christ :"  they  seem  to  think 
that  there  is  something  very  touching,  very  beautiful,  and  very 
humble  in  all  this.  But,  "  for  everything  there  is  a  season  and 
a  time  for  every  purpose  under  heaven  :"  "a  time,"  no  doubt, 
"to  be  bom;"  a  time  for  the  sweet  beauty  and  pathetic 
helplessness  of  infancy— a  time  to  be  fed  on  milk,  to  be  folded 
in  warmth  day  and  night,  to  be  defended  from  the  cold  wind, 
the  rain,  and  the  snow,  to  be  touched  softly  and  tenderly,  and 
to  lie  passive  in  the  arms  of  love ;  and,  perhaps,  some  of  you 
mothers  have  been  sorry  when  your  feeble,  delicate  darlings 
began  to  show  that  this  pleasant  time  was  passing  by, 
and  that  the  restlessness,  and  the  movement,  and  the  self- 
assertion,  of  a  riper  age  had  come  ; — but  still,  none  of  you  are 
anxious  that  your  sons  and  daughters  of  twenty  years'  growth, 
should  affect  in  their  speech  the  lispings  of  infancy,  and  in  their 
countenance  its  innocent  simplicity, — should  still  need  the 
same  harmless  food  and  the  same  gentle  care.  Depend  upon 
it  God  is  no  more  an>aous  that  your  spiritual  infancy,  with  all 
its  peculiar  charms,  should  be  perpetuated  :  you  may  perpetuate 
its  weakness,  but  its  beauty  soon  passes  away  and  returns  no 
more. 

Is  not  our  inadequate  knowledge  of  Christian  doctrine,  like 
that  of  these  Jewish  Christians,  a  sin  rather  than  a  necessity? 
Let  me  put  it  to  some  of  you — directly  and  most  seriously — • 
whether  you  have  ever  given  a  tithe  of  the  labour  to  mastering 
those  truths  which  lie  beyond  the  elementary  principles  of  our 
faith  which  you  gave  to  mastering  those  elementary  principles 
themselves.  What  a  sinner  needs  to  know  in  order  to  obtain 
the  Divine  pardon  and  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  simple 
enough  ; — some  things  which  the  believer  needs  to  know,  if  he 
is  to  become  a  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus,  are  "hard  to  be 
understood:"  and  yet  some  of  you* remember  the  intense 
anxiety  and  the  serious  toil  with  which  you  endeavoured  to 
learn  the  first,  but  are  perfectly  aware  that  there  has  been  no 
corresponding  effort  to  learn  the  second.  You  not  only  read, 
but  studied,  and  prayed  over  "  The  Rise  and  Progress,"  "  The 
Anxious  Inquirer,"  and  "  Come  to  Jesus," — but  I  should  like  to 


Ig7tora7icc  and  Apostasy.  1 1 3 

know  what  other  books — books  \vritten  to  develope  the  deeper 
contents  of  the  Christian  revelation  to  those  who  are  already  in 
Christ — have  ever  had  anything  approaching  the  same  thought 
and  care.  And  is  not  one  of  the  reasons  this — that  you  have 
been  conscious  of  no  such  desire  to  attain  holiness  as  you  once 
had  to  obtain  safety  ?  You  were  passionately  eager  to  become 
one  of  the  servants  of  Christ,  because  to  be  in  His  service  was 
essential  to  your  deliverance  from  danger;  but  you  have  felt 
very  little  concern  to  learn  how  you  may  serve  Him  well,  or  to 
know  those  truths  by  which  your  strength  for  serving  Him 
would  be  augmented.  The  little  you  have  discovered  of  what 
a  Christian  ought  to  be,  has  occasioned  you  sorrow  enough, 
and  you  find  it  trouble  enough  to  maintain  your  religious  life  at 
its  present  level ;  you  have  no  heart  either  to  study  or  to  strive 
after  any  higher  ideal  of  Christian  character.  You  are  content 
to  remain  in  your  present  state— and  when,  '■^considering  the 
ti>?te"  you  have  been  believers,  ^' you  ought  to  be  teachers,  you 
have  need  that  one  teach  you  the  first  principks  of  the  oracles  of 
God."  Let  it  be  understood  that,  as  a  rule,  inadequate 
Christian  knowledge  is  the  result  of  a  defect  of  Christian 
earnestness ;  that  the  incessant  craving  for  mere  "  milk  "  is  a 
proof  that  there  has  been  no  spiritual  growth ;  that  the  incapacity 
of  getting  beyond  "  first  principles  "  is  a  sin,  not  a  misfortune, 
much  less  a  Christian  grace, — and  we  may  hope  that  there  will 
be  some  increase  in  the  Christian  intelligence  of  our  churches, 
and  in  the  vigour  and  depth  of  popular  religious  books,  and 
popular  preaching. 

The  second  cause  of  the  absence  of  progress  in  the  know- 
ledge of  these  Jewish  Christians  may  also  be  paralleled  among 
ourselves.  They  had  been  drifting  back  in  heart  and  in  practice 
to  the  old  Jewish  religion,  and  so  their  intellect  had  become 
less  able  to  comprehend  Christian  truth.  I  cannot  stay  to 
explain  the  philosophy  of  this — the  explanation  is  easy 
enough  to  all  who  are  accustomed  to  observe  the  history 
of  their  own  minds;  and,  without  any  philosophizing, 
everyone  may  see  that  the  understanding  must  gradually 
become  incapable  of  thinking  aright  on  a  spiritual  faith, 
if   passions    and   prejudices    are    gradually    strengthening   in 

I 


114  Ignorance  and  Apostasy. 

favour  of  a  ceremonial  and  external  religion.  The  minds 
of  these  Christian  Jews  had  been  silently  n^ore  and  more 
possessed  with  the  pomp  and  show  of  their  temple  service  and 
with  dreams  of  national  glory,  and  their  capacity  for  appre- 
hending the  deeper  truths  of  the  Christian  revelation  was 
rapidly  diminishing.  And  so  some  of  us,  I  fear,  have  been 
drifting  back  into  mere  worldliness,  and  are  less  familiar  with 
the  disclosures  of  the  unseen  world  which  are  the  objects  of 
faith,  than  when  we  began  to  believe.  Our  intellectual  activity 
is  almost  confined  to  the  sphere  of  things  "seen  and  temporal" 
because  our  chief  care  and  efforts  have  ceased  to  be  directed 
to  things  "  unseen  and  eternal."  We  do  not  live  in  the  region 
of  spiritual  realities,  and,  therefore,  our  habits  of  thought  unfit 
us  for  ac(|uiring  spiritual  knowledge.  The  man  that  lives  among 
his  books  finds  it  hard  to  understand  things  which  are  perfectly 
simple  to  men  of  affairs ;  the  student  of  the  exact  sciences 
finds  it  hard  to  appreciate  the  force  of  moral  evidence ;  the 
subject  of  a  despotic  government  finds  it  hard  to  comprehend 
the  excitement  and  the  apparent  lawlessness  of  a  free  common- 
wealth; and  so,  if  you  are  altogether  devoted  to  secular  business 
all  the  week  through, — if,  practically,  your  highest  aim  in  life  is 
to  get  rich  or  to  live  in  luxury, — if  you  are  engaged  in  no 
Christian  work, — if  your  time  for  meditation  and  prayer  is 
very  brief,  and  if  you  hurry  over  all  the  observances  .which 
are  intended  to  deepen  and  ennoble  your  religious  affections, — 
instead  of  being  teachers,  you  will  ^^  have  need  that  some  one 
teach  you  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God.'' 

There  is  a  delicate  touch  of  sarcasm  in  the  wTiter's  words ; 
you  who  ought  to  be  teachers  require  "some  one'' — anybody 
will  do,  you  have  no  need  of  an  apostle  or  an  inspired  teacher 
■ — you  require  some  one  or  other  to  teach  you  the  first  principles. 
You  have  grown  unfamiliar  with  the  objects  of  spiritual  con- 
templation : — anyone  who  lives  a  higher  and  more  godly  life, — 
any  Christian  who  is  moderately  faithful  to  the  responsibilities 
and  honours  of  his  high  vocation  may  teach  you  the  simple 
truths  which  you  need  to  learn  again. 

Unless  the  traditions  which  have  come  down  to  us  concern- 
\r\^  the  habits  of  our  Nonconformist  fathers   are   altogether 


Ignorance  and  Apostasy.  1 1 5 

inaccurate,  there  was  far  more  of  serious  thoughtfulness  among 
them  than  there  is  among  ourselves.  They  really  cared  to  learn 
all  that  God  had  taught  mankind  by  the  discourses  and  acts  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  and  the  writings  of  the  apostles.  They  held 
grave  discussions  on  Christian  doctrine.  They  thought  in 
solitude  on  those  high  questions  which  many  of  us  shrink  from 
altogether,  or  are  content  to  have  decided  for  us  by  the  mere 
authority  of  great  names  or  by  what  is  understood  to  be  the 
common  belief  of  the  religious  party  to  which  we  belong.  That 
this  was  the  temper  and  habit  of  their  mind  does  not  rest  on 
mere  partial  testimony :  it  is  proved  by  the  sermons  they 
listened  to,  which  would  scatter  a  modern  congregation  in  six 
weeks ;  and  by  the  books  they  studied,  which  many  of  us  are 
accustomed  to  praise,  but  which  very  few  of  us,  I  imagine,  have 
read.  We  often  express  an  earnest  longing  for  Puritan  times  to 
come  again,  antl  Puritan  preachers,  and  Puritan  literature ;  but 
if  any  attempt  were  made  to  restore — not  the  mere  form  of 
Puritanism — but  even  its  substantial  excellence  and  power,  some 
who  are  loudest  in  expressing  these  longings  would  be  most 
indignant  and  most  weary.  Our  fathers  listened  for  hours,  not 
merely  to  men  of  genius  like  Howe  and  Baxter  and  Owen,  but 
to  multitudes  of  "painful  preachers,"  (they  were  called  so  in 
honour,  not  in  scorn),  whose  only  attractiveness  lay  in  this,  that 
with  laborious  fidelity,  though  with  no  brilliance  or  beauty, 
they  endeavoured,  in  their  protracted  sermons,  with  their 
clumsy  sentences,  and  innumerable  divisions,  to  establish  and 
to  teach  the  whole  system  of  Christian  truth.  Wc  find  it  hard 
to  listen  for  forty  minutes  to  any  man  who  does  not  amuse  us 
with  his  humour,  or  excite  us  with  his  eloquence.  We  have  not 
the  hunger  which  makes  us  desire  truth,  no  matter  how  roughly 
dressed;  it  must  be  served  daintily  and  made  piquant  by 
fancy  or  wit.  Even  some  of  the  best  of  us  ask  for  "  milk,"  not 
for  "meat."  We  have  yet  to  learn  that  we  ought  to  "serve 
God  with  the  spirit  and  with  the  understanding  also." 

II. 

And  now  how  does  the  writer  of  this  epistle  determine  to 
deal  Avith  these  sluggish  Christians.     Will  he  omit  all  he  has  to 


Ii6  Ignorance  ajid  Apostasy. 

say  about  Melchizedec?  By  no  means.  Does  he  begin  to 
teach  them  first  principles  ?  No,  any  one  may  do  that.  It  is 
indispensable  they  should  advance ;  and  "  Therefore,^'  he  says, 
"  leaving  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ — kt  us  go  on 
unto  perfection"  or  maturity.  To  the  Christian  Jew  the 
elementary  truths  were  those  which  the  sacred  writer  proceeds 
to  mention  and  on  which  he  does  not  intend  to  say  any  thing. 

"  Hot  laying  agaifi  the  foundation  of  repentance  from  dead 
works;"  their  old  religious  activity  with  all  its  observances 
and  ceremonies,  as  well  as  their  sins,  are  perhaps,  included 
under  this  last  phrase ;  before  they  believed  in  Christ 
there  was  no  life  in  their  religious  duties.  Some  of  them, 
indeed,  might  have  been  devout  Jews,  and  a  certain  degree  of 
earnestness  and  reality  might  have  been  present  in  their  prayers 
and  sacrifices ;  but,  speaking  broadly  and  generally,  their  reli- 
gious activity  was  a  dead,  unspiritual  thing.* 

The  necessity  of  '■'■faith  in  God"  was  also  one  of  the  first 
principles ;  it  was  this  which  constituted  the  very  beginning  of 
a  truly  devout  life ;  they  had  had  faith  once  in  circumcision,  in 
sacrifices,  in  many  sacred  rites ;  but  Christ  had  taught  them,  as 
Luther  taught  the  Church  of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  look 
direct  to  heaven  and  to  repose  all  their  confidence  in  God 
Himself. 

And  their  Christian  instructors  had  had  to  teach  them  what 
"  baptisms  "  meant ;  for  Christian  baptism  was  a  very  great  event 
in  the  life  of  an  adult  Jew,  and  he  had  to  be  made  to  see  clearly 
that  it  was  an  acknowledgement  of  what  his  nation  had 
blasphemously  denied — the  kingship  of  Christ  over  earth  and 
heaven  ;  that  it  was  the  visible  sign  to  be  affixed  to  all  for  whom 
Christ  died, — to  all  who  ought  to  obey  Christ's  authority  :  and 
the  Jew  would  ask  for  an  account  of  the  relation  between  this 

■"  "Yield  yourselves  unto  God  as  those  that  are  alive  from  the  dead," 
(Romans,  vi,  13),  and  other  similar  passages,  favour  the  opinion  that  by  "dead 
works"  the  writer  means  the  sins  of  which  the  spiritually  dead  are  guilty,  the 
acts  proper  to  and  characteristic  of  their  condition.  The  phrase  "dead  works" 
in  cap  ix,  14,  so  evidently  involves  a  metaphor  in  which  the  moral  defilement 
of  sin  is  compared  to  the  ceremonial  impurity  produced  by  contact  with  a  dead 
body,  that  it  affords  no  aid  in  the  interpretation  of  the  phrase  in  the  present 
passage. 


Ignorance  and  Apostasy.  1 1  j 

baptism  and  the  baptism  of  John,  to  which  many  had  submitted 
who  never  came  to  beUeve  in  Christ,  and  to  the  cleansings  by- 
water  common  in  the  ancient  system ;  and  so,  "  teaching  about 
baptisms  "  stood  on  the  very  threshold  of  his  acquaintance  with 
Christian  truth,  though  with  us,  perhaps  it  Hes  somewhat  farther 
on. 

The  Jew  had  been  accustomed  to  the  "  laying  on  of  hands  " 
in  the  old  system,  and  he  would  want  that  explained  when  he 
saw  it  practised  in  the  appointment  of  Christian  ministers  to 
their  office  and,  probably,  in  the  admission  of  believers  to  the 
Church. 

Since  Christ  had  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through 
the  Gospel,  the  new  revelation  of  the  future  world  was  one  of 
the  first  objects  of  the  Jewish  convert's  lawful  curiosity,  and  he 
was  told  what  tlie  new  faith  taught  concerning  "  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  and  eternal  Judgment," — that  judgment  which  takes 
place,  not  in  time,  else  its  decisions  might  be  reversed,  but  in 
the  eternity  by  which  time  is  encompassed,  and  is  therefore  a 
judgment  by  which  the  condition  of  the  soul  is  irrevocably 
determined. 

The  ■writer  says,  "Let  us  go  on  unto  perfection ;"  these  are 
truths  which  you  learnt  at  the  very  beginning  of  your  Christian 
jjrofession  :  it  is  not  my  intention  again  "to  lay  the fowidation" 
on  which  all  your  knowledge  and  life  till  now  have  rested ;  if 
there  is  to  be  growth  of  character,  there  must  be  growth  of 
knowledge  too.  We  must  press  on  to  other  truths.  And  "  this 
will  we  do  if  God  permit" 

III. 

And  why  is  he  resolved  to  do  all  he  can  to  transform  their 
infantine  feebleness  into  mature  strength  ?  Why  does  he  insist 
so  earnestly  on  the  necessity  of  their  advancing  both  in  the 
mastery  of  truth,  and  in  the  development  of  the  religious  life 
to  the  fulness  and  perfection  for  which  a  richer  knowledge 
of  truth  is  indispensable?  Why?  Because  if  they  do  not 
go  forward  their  feebleness  will  become  feebler,  and  what 
little  knowledge  they  have  will  dwindle  away  and  disappear. 
The  infant  that  ceases  to  grow  will  soon  cease  to  live.     Stagna- 


1 1 8  Ignorance  and  Apostasy. 

tion  of  religious  life  and  thought  was  likely  to  end  in  death. 
There  must  be  a  change  for  the  better,  or  all  will  be  lost. 
Unless  there  is  progress  towards  a  higher  condition,  there  will 
soon  be  apostasy  from  Christ  altogether.  If  they  continue  to 
drift  and  to  drift  towards  their  former  state,  they  will  sink  into 
irretrievable  ruin  and  hopeless  destruction.  "  For  it  is  impossible 
for  those  who  were  once  etilightcncd,  and  have  tasted  of  the  heaven- 
/v  gift,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  have 
tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  potvcrs  of  the  world  to  come, 
if  they  shall  fall  away,  to  reneiu  them  again  unto  repentance; 
seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  a?id  put 
Him  to  an  open  shamed 

I  know  how  this  passage  has  made  the  heart  of  many  a  good 
man  tremble  :  but  I  dare  not  pass  it  over  for  all  that.  It  rises 
up  in  the  New  Testament  with  a  gloomy  grandeur,- — stern, 
]:)ortentous,  awful,  sublime,  as  Mount  Sinai  when  the  Lord 
descended  upon  it  in  fire,  and  threatening  storm-clouds  were 
around  Him,  and  thunderings  and  lightnings  and  unearthly 
voices  told  that  He  was  there.  We  too,  like  the  ancient  people, 
may  well  be  filled  with  dread  and  "  stand  afar  off,"  thankful  that 
for  us,  not  Moses,  but  Christ,  draws  near  to  the  thick  darkness 
where  God  is ;  but  the  vision  comes  to  us  as  it  came  to  them, 
"  that  the  fear  of  God  may  be  upon  us,  and  that  we  sin  not." 

Concerning  whom  is  it  that  the  writer  affirms  that  "  //  is 
impossible  to  renew  them  again  unto  repentance  V  I  know  not 
how  he  could  have  chosen  expressions  which  more  forcibly 
describe  the  possession  of  a  real  and  genuine  Christian  life. 
Phrase  is  heaped  upon  phrase  that  there  may  be  no  misappre- 
hension. 

"  Those  who  were  once  enlightened :''  "the  god  of  this  world 
hath  blinded  the  minds  of  those  that  believe  not ; "  "  God  who 
commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness  hath  shined  in 
our  hearts  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."'-' 

"  And  have  tasted  the  heavenly  gift."  Christ  spoke  to  the 
woman  of  Samaria  of  the  "gift  of  God,"  which,  if  she  had 
known,  she  would  have  asked  of  Him,  and  He   would  have 

*  2  Corinthians  iv,  4 — 6. 


Ignora7ice  and  Apostasy.  119 

given  her  "  living  water."  Paul  speaks  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  of  God's  salvation,  especially  perhaps  of  justification, 
as  "  the  free  gift."  "  The  gift  of  righteousness."  Peter,  in  his 
first  Epistle,  uses  the  word  "gift"  in  connection  with  the 
manifold  grace  of  God  :  and  in  the  second  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, Paul  speaks,  I  think,  of  Christ  Himself,  in  whom  is 
included  all  that  the  bounty  and  mercy  of  God  can  confer 
upon  mankind,  as  God's  "  unspeakable  gift."''^ 

These  persons  had  "  tasted  the  heavenly  gift,"  had  not  merel\' 
been  offered  it,  had  not  merely  looked  at  it,  but  had  had 
personal  experience  of  it,  as  the  Christians  to  whom  Peter  Avrote 
had  "tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious. "t  There  had  been  a 
real  interior  knowledge  of  what  it  is  to  receive  the  gift  of  mercy, 
the  gift  of  life  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

'■'■  And  7vere  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  G/iost;"  of  whom  it 
is  said  elsewhere  that  He  is  the  "  earnest  of  our  inheritance 
until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  possession.":!:  There  is 
no  hint  that  I  see  in  the  passage  itself  to  justify  for  a  moment 
the  hypothesis  that  the  reference  is  to  mere  miraculous  gifts 
rather  than  to  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  in  the  heart. 

'■'■And  haTc  tasted  the  good  word  of  God," — had  personal 
experience  of  how  His  promises  can  console  the  troubled  heart, 
how  the  assurances  of  His  mercy  can  loosen  the  burden  of  the 
guilty  conscience,  how  the  expressions  of  His  love,  the 
declaration  of  His  will,  can  quicken  and  strengthen  and  exalt 
the  spiritual  life  of  man. 

"  Afid  the  pojuers  of  the  n'orhi  to  eome," — foretastes  of  future 
glory,  as  some  suppose ;  but  I  think  that  this  phrase,  "  the 
world  to  come,"  is  used  here  in  another  meaning.  The  new 
religious  dispensation  which  was  to  follow  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah  had  received  this  name  among  the  Jews,  and  it  is  often 
employed  in  the  New  Testament  as  equivalent  to  the  "kingdom 
of  Christ," — the  new  state  of  things  which  resulted  from  PI  is 
death  for  the  sins  of  mankind,  and  His  enthronement  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.  The  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  Plis 
consummated  atonement  for  sin.  His  sovereignty  over  heaven 

*  John  iv,  10  ;  Romans  v,  15 — 17  ;  r  Peter  iv,  10  ;  2  Cor,  ix,  15. 
t  I  Peter  ii,  3.  X  Ephesians  i,  14. 


120  Ignorance  and  Apostasy. 

and  earth,  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  the  shrines  of 
mightier  spiritual  forces  for  the  regenerating  and  perfecting  of 
man's  nature  than  had  ever  been  known  to  the  saints  of  the 
earlier  faith.  These  "  powers  of  the  world  to  come  "  had  been, 
not  objects  of  belief,  but  of  consciousness,  to  the  persons  here 
described. 

Not  only  do  the  expressions  themselves  compel  me  to  believe 
that  the  writer  is  thinking  of  those  whose  Christian  life  had 
been  a  reality — not  a  delusion — the  place  of  this  passage  in  his 
appeal  confirms  me  in  this  persuasion.  He  is  exhorting  the 
people  who  are  thus  described,  to  make  progress  in  Christian 
knowledge  and  Christian  character.  Had  they  been  self- 
deceived, — had  they  been  hypocrites, — he  would  have  charged 
them,  not  to  "  go  on  unto  perfection,"  but,  now  at  last,  to  begin 
a  real  and  honest  Christian  life.  He  declares  that  he  shall  not 
"  lay  again  the  foundation  of  repentance  from  dead  works  and 
faith  towards  God."  Had  they  never  been  true  Christians  at 
all,  that  was  precisely  what  he  ought  to  have  done.  He  is 
warning  them  against  "falling  away."  If  their  whole  religious 
life  had  been  a  deception,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
them  to  fall  away  from  Christ's  service,  for  they  would  never 
have  been  truly  in  it.  It  is  by  appealing  to  the  dreadful  results 
of  the  apostasy  into  which  they  are  drifting  that  he  endeavours 
to  raise  them  to  intensest  earnestness.  Had  he  supposed  they 
were  hypocrites  or  self-deceived,  he  would  have  had  no  need 
to  tell  them  of  the  ruin  which  threatened  them  if  they  grew 
worse ;  he  would  have  startled  and  terrified  them  by  awful  dis- 
closures of  their  present  guilt,  their  present  dangers,  and  told 
them  that  they  were  condemned  already. 

No,  this  evasion  will  not  bear  looking  into.  The  writer  had 
present  to  his  mind  those  who  once  gave  earnest  heed  to  the 
great  salvation,  but  were  now  neglecting  it,  and  for  whom,  if 
they  neglected  it  altogether,  there  could  be  no  escape ;  those 
who,  like  their  fathers  in  the  old  time,  had  been  delivered 
by  the  mighty  hand  of  God  from  a  life  of  miserable  bondage, 
but  who,  through  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  were  in  danger  of 
perishing  in  the  midst  of  the  hardships  of  the  wilderness, 
before  they  reached  the  promised  land.      He  had  before  him 


Ignorance  and  Apostasy.  I2T 

men  who,  in  former  days  and  in  the  energy  of  their  eariier 
devotion,  had  endured  a  great  fight  of  afflictions  for  Christ's 
sake,  but  who  had  need  of  patience,  who  must  still  live  by 
faith,  who  were  half  inclined  to  draw  back,  and  if  they  did, 
would  draw  back  unto  perdition.  He  had  before  him  men  who 
were  in  danger  of  sinning  wilfully  after  receiving  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  in  danger  of  treading  under  foot  the  Son  of  God, 
in  danger  of  counting  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith 
they  were  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  doing  despite  unto 
the  Spirit  of  Grace, — not  by  rejecting  His  outward  appeals 
through  Christian  teachers  and  divine  providences,  but  by 
■expelling  Him  from  the  heart  which  had  been  His  temple ;  men 
for  whom  there  was  the  "  sorer  punishment,"  the  "  certain 
looking  for  of  judgment,"  the  "vengeance"  which  "belongeth 
to  the  Lord,"  the  " fearful  thing "  of  falling  "into  the  hands 
of  the  living  God." 

They  had  begun  to  forsake  the  assemblies  of  the  church ; 
some  of  them  Vv'ere  secretly  thinking,  perhaps,  of  the  possibility 
of  that  silent  secession  from  the  church  altogether  to  which  all 
whose  religious  earnestness  was  sinking  were  likely  at  last  to 
come.  They  were  becoming  weary  of  being  Christians  at  so 
great  a  cost,  and  were  fast  drifting  towards  apostasy.  Some  of 
their  old  companions,  perhaps,  had  already  renounced  their 
faith  in  Christ,  and  their  troubles  were  over.  Might  it  not  be 
desirable  to  imitate  their  example  ?  The  writer  meets  them 
just  in  that  condition,  and  he  warns  them  that  their  feet  are  on 
the  crumbling  edge  of  an  awful  gulf,  whose  dark  and  horrible 
depths  no  human  line  can  fathom,  and  that  if  they  sink  they 
sink  beyond  the  reach  of  hope.  Once  in  that  gulf  no  merciful 
hand  can  touch  them,  seeing  that  apostates  are  guilty  of 
"  crucifying  to  tJiemsclvcs  the  Son  of  God  afresh  and  putting  Him 
to  an  open  shame.'" 

But  perhaps  he  means  to  say  that  if  they  apostatize  it  will  be 
impossible  for  yuan  to  renew  them  to  repentance,  although  all 
things  are  possible  to  God.  If  he  had  meant  that  he  would 
have  said  it.  But  what  need  could  there  be  to  say  that,  at  all  ? 
It  is  impossible  for  mati  to  renew  the  soul  that  is  freest  from  evil 


122  Ignorance  and  Apostasy. 

passions  and  from  confirmed  habits  of  sin ;  it  is  impossible  for 
man  to  renew  those  who  hear  the  gospel  for  the  first  time  and 
have  never  hardened  their  hearts  by  rejecting  it.  The  regenera- 
tion of  the  soul  in  every  case  is  beyond  human  power  :  it  would 
liave  been  absurd  for  the  writer  to  attempt  to  add  solemnity  to 
his  warnings  against  the  darkest  crimes  by  saying  that  it  would 
l)e  impossible  for  man  to  do  for  those  who  sinned  most  daringly 
what  man  cannot  do  for  those  whose  sins  are  lightest. 

''  It  is  impossible "  not  only  with  man,  but  impossible, 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  human  spirit,  which  God  established 
and  which  God  respects, — inipossible  with  God  "  to  renew  unto 
repentance"  those  who  are  in  the  condition  here  described. 
Having  known  so  much  of  the  glory  and  grace  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  apostasy  with  them  is  a  "  crucifying  of  the  Lord 
afresh,  and  a  putting  Him  to  an  open  shamed  The  thief  that 
hangs  on  the  neighbouring  cross  may  repent  and  be  forgiven, 
but  if  Lazarus  whom  He  has  raised  from  the  dead,  drives 
through  His  hands  the  cruel  nails,  and  mocks  Him  in  His 
dying  agonies,  who  will  not  say  that  while  committing  such  a 
crime  his  heart  must  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  mightiest 
truths  in  the  compass  of  Divine  revelation,  and  that  even  the 
Spirit  of  all  grace  must  retreat, — grieved,  amazed,  confounded, 
— by  the  unparalleled  transgression  ? 

And,  I  repeat,  that  according  to  the  thought  of  the  -wTiter  of 
this  Epistle,  if  those  who  have  been  once  enlightened,  and 'have 
tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift  and  were  made  partakers  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  fall  away,  they  "crucify  the  Lord  afresh;"  and 
while  the  apostasy  lasts  the  crime  is  prolonged.  They  are 
committing  it  still.  They  are  in  the  very  act,  driving  the  nails, 
uttering  words  of  scorn;  and,  while  this  continues,  they  are 
beyond  the  reach  of  human  teaching  and  of  Divine  grace. 

Do  you  ask  me  whether  it  is  possible  for  a  Christian  man  to 
commit  a  crime  and  to  sink  into  a  doom  like  this  ?  I  dare  not 
obliterate  the  tremendous  force  of  this  passage  by  denying  the 
possibility.  Far  better  leave  it  as  it  is — an  awful  hypothesis — 
to  warn  us  against  the  danger  and  the  guilt,  than  venture  by  fine- 
drawn speculations,  to  diminish  its  practical  power.  If  you  ask 
me  how  I  can  reconcile  the  possibility  which  seems  implied  in 


IgHoraHCC  and  Apostasy.  123 

the  passage  as  it  stands,  -with  the  merciful  promises  which  assure 
us  of  God's  keeping  if  we  trust  in  Him,  I  answer  that  these 
promises  are  to  those  -who  trust,  and  continue  to  trust,  in 
God, — not  to  tKose  wliojrusted  once,  but  whose  trust  has  now 
perished  :  and  I  answer  farther,  that  I  would  rather  be  charged 
by  a  whole  council  of  theologians  with  introducing  scientific 
inconsistency  into  a  theological  system,  than  dare  to  lessen  the 
terror  of  a  divinely-inspired  warning,  the  undiminished  awfulness 
of  which  may  be  needed  to  save  some  soul  from  death. 

This,  however,  I  will  say — for  this  is  in  the  passage  itself— 
that  the  impossibility  of  renewing  unto  repentance  is  confined 
to  those  who  arc  crucifying — not  to  those  who  have  done  it — 
but  to  those  who  arc  crucifying  the  Son  of  God  afresh  and 
putting  Him  to  an  open  shame.  If  any  who  have  reason  to  fear 
that  once  they  did  it,  now  abhor  the  crime,  long  to  obtain 
pardon,  and  to  be  renewed  unto  repentance,  let  them  come 
unto  Him  who  prayed  for  forgiveness  for  His  murderers,  who 
"  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us,"  and  in  you,  as  the 
chief  of  sinners,  He  will  show  for  an  example,  and  make  known 
to  the  ages  to  come,  the  "  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace." 


HOPEFULNESS. 

"But,  beloved,  we  are  persuaded  better  things  of  you,  and  things  that  accom- 
pany salvation,  though  we  thus  speak. 

' '  For  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work  and  labour  of  love,  which  ye 
have  shewed  to  His  name,  in  that  ye  have  ministered  to  the  saints,  and  do 
minister." — Hebrews  vi,  9-20. 

It  is  quite  after  the  manner  of  the  Avriter  of  this  Epistle  to 
introduce  the  most  pathetic  encouragements  to  courageous 
fidelity  immediately  after  the  most  awful  warnings  against  the 
guilt  and  danger  of  apostasy.  The  solemn  appeal  in  the  third 
and  fourth  chapters  to  the  history  of  those  who  escaped  from 
bondage  in  Egypt  but  perished  in  the  wilderness  through  their 
unbelief,  and  the  exhortation  founded  on  their  miserable  end, 
"  Let  us  therefore  fear  lest  a  promise  being  left  us  of  entering 
into  His  rest  any  of  you  should  appear  to  have  fallen  short  of 
it,"  are  followed  by  the  declaration  that  "we  have  not  a  High 
Priest  who  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities, 
but  one  who  was  in  all  points  tried  like  as  we  are,"  and  that 
when  our  strength  is  failing  we  may  therefore  "  come  boldly  to 
the  throne  of  grace,"  sure  of  His  sympathy,  "  to  obtain  mercy 
and  find  grace  for  timely  help."  And  in  this  passage,  though 
he  has  severely  condemned  the  Jewish  Christians  for  their  want 
of  progress  in  knowledge  and  manly  vigour,  and  has  told  them 
of  the  appalling  condition  into  which  they  will  sink,  if  they 
continue  to  drift  away  from  Christ,  He  speaks  to  them  affec- 
tionately of  his  confident  persuasion  that,  after  all,  they  will 
continue  faithful  to  their  profession  :  "  beloved,  we  are  persuaded 
better  things  of  you,  and  things  which  accomJ>afiy  salvation,  though 
we  thus  speak." 

It  is,  I  think,  well  worthy  of  consideration  on  the  part  of  all 


Hopef Illness.  1 2  5 

who  are  entrusted  with  the  moral  and  reHgious  care  of  others, 
that  throughout  Holy  Scripture  there  is  the  union  of  kindly, 
loving  hopefulness  with  strong  and  even  stern  rebuke.  If  we 
despair  of  men  who  have  gone  grievously  wrong,  they  will  soon 
despair  of  themselves.  Those  who  have  been  most  successful, 
in  prevailing  on  others  to  trust  in  Christ,  have  commonly  had 
an  ardent  and  unconquerable  persuasion  that  they  should 
succeed;  the  eager  faith  of  their  own  hearts  has  passed  into 
the  hearts  of  those  with  whom  they  pleaded. 


I. 

And  on  what  does  this  hopefulness  rest  in  the  present  case  ? 
Plainly  there  is  nothing  said  to  diminish  the  force  of  the  warn- 
ings in  the  previous  verses.  The  writer  does  not  fall  back  on 
an  eternal  purpose  of  God  which  will  infallibly  secure  the 
salvation  of  all  who  have  truly  beHeved  in  Christ.  There  is 
nothing  to  encourage  these  faltering,  hesitating  Christians,  to 
hope  that  since  they  were  once  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
they  may  now  conceal  their  faith  in  Christ,  let  that  faith  perish 
altogether,  consult  their  own  safety  and  peace,  by  visibly 
renouncing  all  association  with  the  church,  and  yet  be  sure  of 
being  rescued  at  last  from  the  "  cursing  "  and  "  burning."  He 
meant  what  he  said  when  he  told  them  what  would  be  the  result 
of  apostasy ;  and  he  does  not  unsay  it  now.  His  persuasion 
that  instead  of  destruction  lying  before  them  there  was  salva- 
tion, does  not  rest  on  any  doctrine  which  would  cancel  the 
threatenings  which  darken  the  pages  of  this  Epistle,  like  the 
portentous  omens  of  a  coming  storm.  His  hope  rests  on  this, 
that  "  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget"  their  work  and  their  love 
which  they  had  showed  to  His  name,  in  that  they  had  minis- 
tered to  the  saints,  and  still  continued  to  minister. 

By  their  ''work"  I  think  the  writer  meant  their  Christian 
life  in  general.  They  had  been  energetic  and  courageous 
servants  of  Christ,  and  had  been  zealous  in  maintaining  His 
honour.  There  had  been  not  merely  faith,  but  works  in 
harmony   with  faith.      There    had   been   not  merely   inward 


126  Hopefulness. 

emotion  of  the  right  kind,  but  outward  and  visible  acts  of  the 
right  kind.  They  had  Hved  a  good  life ;  they  had  done  God's 
will;  their  "work"  had  been  even  in  God's  judgment  an 
excellent  and  honourable  thing. 

And  they  had  been  especially  remarkable  for  ministering  to 
t/ic  saints;  that  is,  by  relieving  their  necessities,  standing  by 
tliem  in  danger,  and  showing  them  sympathy  in  suffering. 
(}reat  distress  had  come  upon  the  churches  in  Judea — distress 
so  great,  that  even  Macedonia  and  Corinth  had  been  invited  to 
send  them  aid ;  but  among  the  Jewish  Christians  themselves 
there  had  been  an  openhanded  generosity.  Those  who  had 
little  themselves  had  given  to  those  who  had  less ;  those  who 
had  nothing  to  give  had  yet  ministered  to  their  brethren  by 
personal  kindnesses  and  loving  attentions.  And  all  this  they 
were  doing  still.  Not  perhaps  so  heartily  as  in  former  times, 
but  they  were  still  doing  it. 

Now,  says  the  writer,  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget 
all  this  :  He  remembers  and  He  desires  to  reward  your  past 
fidelity  and  generosity ;  this  is  a  reason  for  being  hopeful 
about  you. 

This  argument  may  assume  two  fonns  : 

{a)  Unless  you  continue  faithful  to  the  end,  all  your  former 
Christian  life  and  liberality  must  remain  without  the  eternal 
recompense  God  longs  to  bestow.  Your  former  struggles 
against  many  difficulties,  your  self-sacrifice,  your  Christian 
uprightness,  your  liberality  to  the  saints,  will  all  be  unrewarded. 
The  apostasy  of  the  closing  days  of  your  life  would  render 
worthless  the  fidelity  of  all  your  previous  years.  You  have 
done  so  well  that  if  now  your  energy  and  usefulness  do  not  fail, 
you  will  not  merely  be  saved  so  as  by  fire,  but  will  have 
"  an  abundant  entrance "  into  everlasting  glory.  You  have 
already  laid  up  treasure  in  heaven.  Crowns  and  thrones  are 
there  to  reward  your  past  toil,  to  compensate  your  past  shame, 
and  to  signalise  your  past  victories.  It  is  not  God's  will  that 
any  who  have  suffered  with  Christ  should  miss  the  honour  and 
blessedness  of  reigning  with  Him.  And  hence  He  will  do  His 
utmost  to  keep  you  from  destruction.      He   has  an   eternal 


Ilopcfidncss. 


12; 


reward  for  you,  and  He  will  do  His  best  to  put  you  in  posses- 
sion of  it. 

(b)  Or   else,   perhaps,    the  argument  may  be  stated  thus. 
Your  past  fidelity  to  Christ,  and  your  ministrations  to  the  saints, 
recorded  in  God's  memory,  and  certain  to  receive  His  righteous 
recompense,  will  lead  Him  to  do  for  you  in  this  life  what,  but 
for  your  former  goodness,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect. 
He  will  reward  your  Christian  work,  and  your  love  shown  to  His 
name,   by  alleviating  the  severity  of  your  trial,   by   affording 
special  supernatural  aids  to  your  faith  and  constancy.     If,  the 
writer  might  have  said,  if  I  were  addressing  men  who  had  only 
recently  believed,  or  who,  since  they  believed,  had  always  been 
cowards  in  the  time  of  persecution,  had  always  been  inconsistent 
in  moral  conduct,  had  never  been  kindly  and  generous  towards 
their  brethren,  I  could  have  no  hope  of  you ;   your  present 
v.-eakness  would  in  my  judgment  be  almost  sure  to  issue  in 
spiritual  death  ;  but  you  did  so  well  once,  and  in  some  respects 
are  doing  so  well  still,  that  to  you  God  will  manifest  unusual 
forbearance;    for  you  there  will  be  unusual   and   miraculous 
assistance;  "He  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  v/ork  and  the 
love  ye  have  shewed  to  his  name." 

What  a  motive  there  is  here  for  endeavouring  to  live  a  life  of 
the  highest  and  noblest  kind,  for  energetic  Christian  work,  for 
unsparing  self-sacrifice,  for  the  freest  liberality  !  By  courage,  by 
labour,  by  generosity,  by  holiness,  we  not  only  augment  and 
exalt  our  everlasting  bliss,  secure  in  the  world  to  come  a  richer 
inheritance,  a  loftier  throne,  a  brighter  crown,  a  diviner  joy, — 
we  increase  our  safety  from  falling  away  altogether.  We  should 
live  up  to  our  most  perfect  conceptions  of  what  the  servants  of 
Christ  ought  to  be,  not  only  that  we  may  have  the  heartier 
welcome  and  the  higher  approbation  when  we  enter  heaven,  but 
that  we  may  be  more  certain  of  overcoming  the  outward  dangers 
and  the  inward  weakness  which  in  future  years  may  imperil  the 
very  existence  of  our  religious  life. 

By  the  necessary  operation  of  the  laws  of  our  spiritual  nature, 
those  who  have  been  most  faithful  to  Christ  are  most  likely  to 
come  out  victorious  from  the  most  temble  trials  to  which  they 
may  be  subjected ;  but  this  is  not  all.     If  through  many  years, 


I2S  Hopefidness. 

you  serve  God  with  conspicuous  fidelity,  He  will  be  so  solicitous- 
to  confer  on  you  the  everlasting  reward  of  your  "  work  "  that  He 
will  protect  you  from  temptations  that  would  be  likely  to  destroy 
you  altogether  ;  or  He  will  communicate  to  you  more  richly  the 
aid  of  His  Holy  Spirit  to  enable  you  successfully  to  confront 
them.  Since  for  you,  in  consequence  of  your  well-doing,  there 
is  reserved  in  heaven  a  special  inheritance,  incorruptible, 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  all  His  power  will  be 
exerted  that  you  may  be  kept  through  faith  unto  the  salvation 
ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time. 

If  sometimes  you  fear  that  evil  days  are  before  you,  when  you 
will  lose  the  human  supports  by  which  your  faith  is  now  sus- 
tained— days  when  strong  temptations  by  which  others  have 
been  plunged  into  shame  and  ruin  will  assault  your  fidelity,  see 
in  the  text  one  way  of  making  ready  for  the  hour  and  power  of 
darkness.  Abound  iiotv  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  .  Minister  Jioiir 
to  the  saints ;  and  when  the  trouble  and  danger  come,  God  will 
not  forget.  He  will  remember  your  present  love,  your  present 
zeal,  your  present  devotedness,  and  will  reward  you  then  by 
being  your  strength  and  shield. 

I  cannot  stop  to  remove  difficulties  which  some  persons  may 
feel  about  the  use  of  the  word  *'  righteous  "  in  this  place ;  but 
can  only  say,  that  there  is  no  need  for  any  of  us  to  be  more 
anxious  about  maintaining  the  freedom  of  God's  grace  than  the 
writers  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  themselves.  Our  sins  are 
forgiven  freely  by  the  Divine  mercy  through  Christ ;  our  hearts 
are  renewed  freely  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  all  the 
spiritual  energies  by  which  our  Christian  life  is  sustained  are 
freely  imparted  to  us  by  the  Divine  goodness ;  when  we  have 
done  all  we  are  unprofitable  servants.  And  yet,  if  you  have  any 
doubt  about  the  certainty  of  God's  rewarding  those  who  serve 
him  well, — if  you  do  not  feel  that,  according  to  the  constitution 
under  which  we  live,  it  is  a  just  and  not  merely  a  gracious  thing 
for  God  to  recompense  a  man  like  Paul  for  all  his  labours  and 
sufferings,  you  have  very  much  to  learn  about  the  true  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament.  You  must  find  room  in  your  beUef  for 
everything  for  which  inspired  men  found  room  in  their  writings ; 
and  if  you  cannot  get  this  sentence  into  your  theology,  "  God 


'  Hopefulness.  1 29 

is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work,  and  the  love 
which  ye  have  showed  to  His  name,"  your  theology  needs 
alteration  and  readjustment.  "Of  the  Lord  shall  ye  receive 
the  reward  of  the  inheritance,  for  ye  serve  the  Lord  Christ ; " 
"it  is  a  righteous  thing  with  God  to  recompense  tribulation  to 
them  that  trouble  you,  and  to  you  who  are  troubled  rest,  with 
us,  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with 
His  mighty  angels." 

IL 

Having  expressed  his  confidence  that  his  readers  will  not 
drift  into  apostasy,  and  assigned  the  reasons  for  his  hope,  the 
inspired  writer  exhorts  them  to  renewed  energy,  and  gives  a 
reason  for  strong  and  persevering  faith  in  God.  "  We  desire 
that  every  ojie  of  you  do  show  the  same  diligence"  that  was 
manifested  in  your  former  Christian  life  and  in  your  ministra- 
tions to  the  saints  which  still  continue;  we  desire  that  every 
one  of  you  do  show  the  same  diligence  in  relation  to  the 
establishment,  the  strengthening,  the  perfecting  of  your  hope 
unto  the  end.  You  are  becoming  discouraged  and  depressed. 
Let  it  be  your  object  now  to  give  to  the  hope  which  is 
beginning  to  decay  the  fulness  of  assurance,  and  a  fulness 
of  assurance  which  shall  last  until  the  object  of  hope  shall 
be  fully  attained,  "  that  ye  may  not  become  sluggish  or  slothful, 
but  folloivcrs  of  the?n  who,  through  faith  and  endurance  inherit 
the  promises."  This  is  the  exhortation.  When  their  Christian 
life  began,  they  trusted  in  the  Divine  word,  they  looked  for 
the  salvation  and  eternal  glory  which  Christ  had  promised 
them  ;  and  if  they  were  to  recover  from  their  present  declen- 
sion, there  must  be  the  rekindling  of  the  almost  extinguished 
fires  of  hope.  The  sufferings  and  difficulties  of  the  present 
must  be  overcome  in  the  strength  of  a  clear  and  distinct  view 
of  the  eternal  future. 

Hope  ranks  with  Faith  and  Charity  as  one  of  the  royal 
elements  of  Christian  perfection.  We  are  saved  by  hope. 
Every  man  that  hath  hope  in  Christ  purifieth  himself  even  as 
He  is  pure.  The  temptations,  and  sorrows,  and  weariness 
which  endanger  our  fidelity,  are  to  be  vanquished,  not  merely 

K 


130  Hopeftdness. 

by  faith  in  the  consolations  which  God  will  now  afford,  or  by 
the  love  which  rejoices  to  be  found  worthy  to  suffer  for  Christ's 
sake,  but  also  by  a  confident  hope  resting  on  the  promise  of 
Christ  that  if  we  are  faithful  unto  death.  He  will  give  us  a 
crown  of  life ;  that,  if  we  overcome,  we  shall  be  pillars  in  the 
temple  of  God,  and  go  no  more  out, — shall  be  clothed  in  white 
raiment, — shall  eat  of  the  hidden  manna, — shall  receive  the 
white  stone, — shall  never  have  our  name  blotted  from  the  Book 
of  Life, — shall  sit  with  Christ  in  His  throne,  even  as  He  over- 
came and  is  seated  with  the  Father  in  His  throne.  The 
heaviest  of  earthly  calamities,  the  bitterest  of  earthly  sorrows, 
the  sharpest  of  earthly  temptations,  will  appear  to  us  light 
afflictions,  and  but  for  a  moment ;  we  shall  perceive  that  they 
are  all  working  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory ;  if  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen  and 
temporal,  but  at  the  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal. 

But  such  a  hope,  strong  enough  to  exert  a  permanent  in- 
fluence over  the  whole  character  and  life,  will  not  rise  up  in  the 
soul  by  accident  or  without  great  diligence  and  care.  Dazzling 
but  transient  visions  of  everlasting  blessedness  may  sometimes 
come  to  men  in  whom  the  religious  affections  are  almost 
powerless.  The  city  of  God,  with  its  walls  of  massive 
splendour  and  the  brightness  and  blessedness  which  they 
enclose,  may  be  seen  for  a  moment  by  the  imagination  even  of 
ungodly  men ;  but  the  radiant  pageant  will  be  as  unsubstantial 
as  the  purple  and  golden  magnificence  of  sunset,  and,  fading 
away,  will  leave  the  soul  in  dim  twilight,  which  will  soon  darken 
into  perfect  night.  The  hope  of  which  the  writer  of  this  Epistle 
is  speaking  is  not  the  dream  of  fancy,  but  one  of  the  noblest 
intuitions  of  the  soul.  It  is  permanent  in  its  presence  and 
power,— as  different  from  the  momentary  excitements  of  the 
imagination,  as  a  calm  Christian  faith  from  the  irrational  con- 
victions of  the  ignorant  and  the  superstitious,  or  as  a  deep  and 
genuine  Christian  charity  from  the  impulses  of  mere  kindly 
emotion  and  good-nature. 

The  diligence  which  augments  and  strengthens  this  hope  will 
carefully  avoid  all  that  would  stain  and  corrupt  the  soul,  for  it 
is  only  the  pure  in  heart  who  see  God  in  the  home  in  which 


Hopefulness.  131 

God  and  His  angels  dwell ;  it  will  encourage  habits  of  devotion 
and  of  communion  with  heaven,  for  it  is   only  those   whose 
affections  are  firmly  set  on  things  above,  who  can  see  Christ 
sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  God  and  the  saints  enthroned  with 
Him  in  bliss  ;  it  will  subdue  the  force  of  those  inferior  passions 
which  seek  their  satisfaction  in  the  riches  which  perish  and  the 
honour  which  decays,  for  it  is  only  those  whose  treasures  are  in 
the  skies, — whose   hearts  will   long   and   yearn  for  the  glory 
hereafter  to  be    revealed.      The  diligence  here  required  will 
loosen  the  soul   from  the  interests  of  this  mortal  life, — will 
enlarge  those  capacities  which  can  not  be  filled  except  with 
the  perfect  satisfactions  which  are  the  immortal  inheritance  of 
the  saints, — will  intensify  all  those  affections  which  thirst  for  the 
vision  of  God,  transformation  into  His  likeness,  and  communion 
with  His  infinite  and  eternal  blessedness. 

But  the  question  may  arise.  Is  it  not  possible  for  our  hope, 
when  thus  carefully  and  diligently  perfected,  to  be  ultimately 
disappointed  ? — is  it  not,  after  all,  a  wild  and  presumptuous 
thing  to  desire  and  expect  so  transcendent  a  bliss  ?     Is  there 
anything  for  so  great  a  hope  to  rest  upon, — anything  solid  and 
firm  enough  to   sustain  all  its   weight  ?      Yes,  is   the   reply ; 
'■'■  ivhen  God  made  promise  unto  Abrahain" — a  promise  the  final 
developement  and  fulness  of  which  we  are  still  waiting  for, — 
"  because  He  could  swear  by  no  greater.  He  sware  by  Himself^ 
saying,  Surely'''' — and  the  word  thus  translated  is  the  common 
formula  of  Jewish  oaths — "  Surely,  blessing,  I  will  bless  thee,  and 
multiplying,  I  will  multiply  thee;'"  and  Abraham  believed  God's 
word,  and  after  his  faith  had  stood  the  test  of  long  delay, — 
"  after  he  had  patiently  endured, — he  obtaiiied  the  promised     It 
began  to  be  fulfilled  when  Isaac  was  born. 

^^For  men  verily  swear  by  the  greater,"  invoking  on  themselves, 
if  they  swear  falsely,  the  vengeance  of  some  superior  power ; 
"  and  an  oath  is  an  e?id  of  all  strife"  or  gainsaying, — it  is  the 
firmest  and  surest  establishment  of  the  truth  and  certainty  of 
what  is  promised  or  afiirmed.  "  Wherefore  God,  willing  to  show 
more  abundantly  to  the  heirs  of  promise'" — to  Isaac  and  to  Jacob 
that  is — and  to  all  who  afterwards  came  to  have  an  interest  in 
what  the  Divine  word  had  been  pledged  to  bestow,  ^'■the  im- 


132  Hopefulness. 

mutability  of  His  counsel,  condescended  to  mediate  " — to  become,  as 
it  were,  a  third  person  between  Himself  and  Abrahajn,  using  the 
form  of  asseveration  by  which  creatures  call  down  on  them- 
selves the  Divine  curse,  '■'by"  adding  "an  oath  "  to  His  promise 
— "  that  by  two  ifjwmtable  thij2gs," — His  own  word  and  the  oath 
which  strengthened  it, — "  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to 
lie,  we  may  have  strong  encouragement  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to 
the  hope  set  before  us  in  the  Gospel,  which  hope  we  have  as  an 
anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  and  entering  into  that 
within  the  veil — the  Holy  of  Holies — whither  a  foreninner  on  our 
behalf  has  entered,  even  Jesus,  He  having  become  a  High  Priest 
for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek." 

The  kernel  of  this  argument  for  sustained  confidence  in  God 
may,  I  think,  be  stated  thus  : — Long  ago,  when  God  called 
Abraham  from  his  father's  house,  God  promised  him  many  and 
glorious  blessings  ;  the  whole  history  of  his  descendants — the 
birth  of  Isaac,  the  muliplication  of  the  Jewish  race,  their 
miraculous  history,  the  coming  of  the  Messiah — is  the  fulfilment 
of  the  promise  ;  but  much  yet  remains  to  be  fulfilled.  The 
depth  and  wealth  of  it  have  only  been  partially  revealed.  In 
the  writings  of  the  prophets,  in  the  songs  of  the  Psalmists,  there 
are  indications  that  the  earthly  kingdom  was  to  rise  into  a 
nobler  and  grander  form  :  instead  of  a  secular  prince,  there  was 
to  be  a  Divine  ruler — instead  of  the  land  which  God  had  given 
to  their  fathers,  an  everlasting  and  heavenly  inheritance.  We 
are  the  heirs  of  the  promise  ;  the  very  crisis  of  its  perfect 
accomplishment  has  now  arrived  ;  we  are  bound  to  rest  upon  it 
with  the  same  confidence  with  which  Abraham  rested,  and  all 
the  saintly  men  of  the  older  faith.  It  is  more  than  a  promise. 
Anticipating  the  severe  and  protracted  strain  to  which  faith 
would  be  subjected,  God  added  to  His  promise  an  oath.  "By 
myself  have  I  sworn,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  that  in  blessing  I  will 
bless  thee,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  This  rock,  the  Divine  promise,  the  Divine  oath,  is 
the  ultimate  foundation  of  all  Jewish  hope  :  on  this  foundation 
our  hope  is  built.  God's  purpose  is  immutable,  though  as  yet 
we  may  not  be  able  to  see  that  it  is  being  fulfilled;  but  as 
Abraham  waited  for  a  loner   time   before   he   saw   even   the 


Hopefulness.  133 

beginning  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  Divine  word,  we  too 
must  wait.  And  meanwhile,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  tumult  and 
storm  by  which  we  are  now  surrounded,  our  hope  is  like  a 
strong  anchor,  which  must  hold  us  firmly  till  the  brighter, 
calmer  future  comes  ;  it  is  an  anchor  fixed  in  the  very  nature, 
and  truth,  and  glory  of  God — immoveable  as  the  foundations  of 
His  eternal  throne ;  for  in  His  earnest  desire  to  command  our 
trust,  He  has  condescended  to  strengthen  the  force  of  His 
promise  by  adding  to  it  that  solemn  confirmation  by  which  men 
are  accustomed  to  invoke  on  themselves  the  direst  calamities  if 
they  prove  false  to  their  word. 

God  knew  all  our  infirmity.  It  ought  to  have  been  enough 
if,  once  for  all,  He  had  told  us  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
His  grace.  One  gracious  promise  shining  out  from  the  dark- 
ness should  have  been  enough  to  attract  the  vision  and  to 
command  the  confidence  of  all  nations  and  of  all  ages.  One 
golden  sentence  assuring  us  of  His  infinite  and  everlasting 
mercy  ought  to  have  been  enough  for  the  faith  of  all  the 
millions  of  the  human  race  to  rest  upon.  When  burdened  with 
the  guilt  of  sin, — when  struggling  with  temptation, — when 
exhausted  by  sorrow, — it  ought  to  have  been  enough  for  us  if 
we  knew  that  once  heaven  had  spoken  to  earth,  and  invited  our 
perfect  and  happy  trust.  Among  ourselves,  how  often  has  a 
heart  sorely  tried,  clung  for  years  to  a  few  broken  words, 
hurriedly  spoken  by  human  lips,  and  found  in  them  a  spell  and 
a  charm  which  filled  the  air  with  music,  made  a  desert  a 
paradise,  and  enabled  hope  to  defy  repeated  disappointments, 
and  to  rest  exultingly  in  the  certainty  of  a  happy  future.  And 
a  solitary  promise  should  have  been  enough  from  the  lips  of 
Him  who  cannot  lie.  But  it  was  not  His  will  to  subject  us  to 
the  severity  of  such  a  test.  Like  the  stars  of  heaven  for 
multitude  are  the  declarations  of  His  willingness  to  pardon  the 
sins  of  the  most  guilty,  and  to  receive  back  the  wicked  into  the 
joy  of  His  love.  For  those  who  have  known  Him,  but  who 
have  gone  astray,  there  are  promises  encouraging  them  to 
return,  and  assuring  them  that  God  is  faithful  and  just  to 
forgive  their  sins,  and  to  cleanse  them  from  all  unrighteousness  ; 
there  are  loving  words  for  the  weak  and  the  weary,  for  the 


134  Hopefulness. 

sorrowful,  for  the  tempted,  for  the  persecuted,  and  for  the  dying 
— words  so  special  and  direct  in  their  application  to  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  human  life,  that  sometimes  we  must  have  felt  as 
though  they  had  been  written  in  the  ages  long  gone  by  only  for 
our  use  ;  that,  like  some  secret  treasure  which  had  been  hidden 
for  centuries  and  found  by  us  at  last,  they  had  never  been 
intended  for  the  saints  who  have  gone  before  us,  but  had 
been  reserved  for  our  o\vn  consolation  and  support ;  in  such 
wonderful  ways  has  God  made  provision  for  our  need  ! 

There  is  another  aspect  under  which  we  may  regard  these 
innumerable  expressions  of  the  Divine  gentleness  and  love. 
They  look  like  the  irrepressible  yearnings  of  the  Divine  nature 
for  our  confidence.  It  is  not  enough  for  God  that  the  faith  of 
angels  and  archangels  reposes  through  age  after  age  on  His  justice 
and  goodness.  He  seems  as  if  He  could  not  be  content  without 
our  faith  too.  He  seems  more  eager  to  be  trusted  than  even 
to  be  obeyed.  The  laws  of  nature  shall  be  disturbed  if  miracles 
will  only  awaken  our  trust.  Angels  shall  reveal  their  glory  to 
mortal  eyes,  if  angehc  visions  will  only  awaken  our  trust.  His 
own  Son  shall  leave  the  throne  of  His  glory  and  die  an  accursed 
death,  if  the  transcendent  gift  will  only  awaken  our  trust. 
Promise  shall  be  accumulated  on  promise,  revelation  added  to 
revelation,  if  multiplied  expressions  of  His  love  will  only 
awaken  our  trust.  He  who  cannot  lie,  whose  truth  endureth  to 
all  generations,  will  humble  Himself  to  the  level  of  men  whose 
word  may  fail  unless  it  is  confirmed  by  an  oath  ; — and  since  in 
that  awful  height  in  which  He  is  enthroned  He  can  see  above 
Him  none  greater  than  Himself,  to  whose  piercing  scrutiny  He 
can  appeal  for  His  sincerity,  whose  vengeance  He  can  invoke 
if  He  should  ever  prove  unfaithful,— He  will  swear  by  Himself, 
that  His  purpose  may  be  manifestly  immutable,  if  the  oath 
which  often  enables  us  to  rely  on  the  word  of  a  false  and 
treacherous  man,  will  only  awaken  our  trust.  Oh,  wonder  not, 
that  from  end  to  end  of  Holy  Scripture,  Faith  is  invested  with 
an  importance  which  has  provoked  the  hostile  criticism  of  those 
who  understand  neither  the  weakness  of  man  nor  the  infinite 
cravings  of  the  heart  of  God.  And  let  the  poorest  and 
feeblest  and  obscurest  of  mankind  rejoice  in  this — that  if  they 


Hopefulness.  135 

could  consecrate  to  God's  service  the  wealth  of  an  empire, 
erect  to  His  honour  the  costliest  temples,  offer  Him  the 
homage  of  the  noblest  genius — all  these  would  give  Him  less 
perfect  delight  than  He  derives  from  a  faith  which  vanquishes 
doubt  and  stands  firm  in  conflict,  and  which  in  death  itself 
fears  no  evil,  exclaiming,  "Thou  art  with  me.  Thou  art  my 
strength  and  my  song,  my  sun  and  my  shield — none  that  trust 
in  Thee  shall  ever  be  confounded." 


MELCHIZEDEK. 

"  For  this  Melchizedek,  King  of  Salem,  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  who  met 
Abraham  returning  from  the  slaughter  of  the  kings,  and  blessed  him,"  &c. 
— Hebrews  vii,  1-28. 

The  inspired  ^^Titer  of  this  Epistle  has  already  prepared  us 
for  the  difficulties  which  occur  in  this  chapter  on  the  priesthood 
of  Melchizedek.  He  has  "  many  things  to  say  and  things 
difficult  to  explain,"  since  his  readers  had  become  "  dull  of 
hearing."  To  make  the  subject  perfectly  intelligible  to  those 
who  had  ceased  to  give  earnest  heed  to  the  elementary  facts 
and  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  who  needed  to  be 
taught  again  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  was  no 
easy  task.  Of  course,  this  implies  that  the  discussion  in  itself 
Avas  somewhat  remote  from  the  line  of  ordinary  Christian 
teaching,  else  it  would  not  have  required  thoughtful  and 
disciplined  and  thoroughly  spiritual  men  to  understand  it. 
The  special  difficulties  which  were  likely  to  prevent  "these 
Judaizing  Christians  from  appreciating  and  accepting  this  part 
of  the  Epistle  were  stated  in  a  former  sermon ;  but  for  our- 
selves, it  is  not  altogether  free  from  obscurity, — obscurity 
arising  mainly  from  want  of  careful  thought  on  the  true  relations 
of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  New. 

There  is  hardly  anything  more  curious  in  the  history  of 
Scripture  interpretation  than  the  variety  of  theories  on  the 
person  and  dignity  of  Melchizedek, — theories  chiefly  built  upon 
the  expressions  employed  in  this  chapter.  In  the  early  ages  of 
the  Church  some  heretical  sects  and  some  orthodox  theologians 
indulged  in  strange  speculations  on  this  subject.  By  some  it 
was  believed  that  Melchizedek  was  a  manifestation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  by  others,  that  he  was  an  early  incarnation  of  Christ 


Melchisedek.  137 

Himself;  by  others,  that  he  was  one  of  the  powers  or  emana- 
tions of  God,  superior  to  our  Lord,  but  after  the  model  of 
whom  Christ  was  afterwards  formed.  Origen  of  Alexandria 
believed  that  he  was  an  angel ;  others  thought  that  he  was  a 
man,  formed  before  the  creation  of  the  world  out  of  spiritual 
not  earthly  matter ;  others,  that  he  was  Enoch  sent  to  live  on 
the  earth  again  after  the  flood.  Some  conjectured  that  he 
was  Shem,  the  son  of  Noah,  following  an  ancient  Jewish  tradi- 
tion, preserved  in  one  of  the  Targums;  others,  that  he  was 
Ham ;  while  others,  again,  have  thought  that  he  was  the 
patriarch  Job. 

You  will  not  expect  me  to  discuss  these  various  hypotheses. 
Though  some  of  the  expressions,  especially  those  in  the  third 
and  eighth  verses,  are  seriously  perplexing,  I  venture  to  think 
that,  without  any  attempt  to  explain  away  or  diminish  the  force 
of  the  writer's  language,  only  interpreting  every  phrase  in  the 
light  of  the  two  passages  concerning  Melchizedek  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  in  the  light  of  the  writer's  own  purpose,  we 
may  be  able  to  see  that  he  does  not  wish  us  to  suppose  that 
Melchizedek  was  anything  more  than  a  good  man,  King  of 
Salem,  and  the  recognized  representative  and  priest,  in  his  own 
country  and  times,  of  the  Most  High  God. 

To  correct  the  errors,  confirm  the  faith,  and  animate  the 
courage  of  those  Jewish  Christians  who  were  disheartened  and 
depressed  by  the  absence  of  visible  glory  in  the  history  of 
Christ  and  in  the  constitution  and  position  of  the  Christian 
Church,  it  has  been  shown  already  that,  personally  and  by  His 
works,  Christ  is  greater  than  the  angels  whose  ministry  had 
thrown  a  supernatural  splendour  around  the  ancient  institutions 
of  Judaism ;  that  by  His  relationship  to  God  and  His  rank  in 
God's  spiritual  "  house,"  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  greater  than 
Moses,  who  was  only  God's  servant,  though  the  founder  and 
lawgiver  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth,  and  the  great  patriot  and 
hero  of  Jewish  story ;  and  that  from  Christ  we  are  to  receive  a 
nobler  "rest"  than  that  into  which  Joshua  led  the  tribes  of 
Israel  after  their  long  wanderings  in  the  wilderness.     And  now 


138  Melchizedek. 

the  writer  begins  the  contrast  between  the  priesthood — not  the 
person,  but  the  priesthood — of  Christ,  and  the  priesthood  of 
Aaron  and  his  successors,  and  is  about  to  show  that  the 
priesthood  of  Christ  is  far  loftier  and  more  glorious. 

He  commences  his  argument  by  an  appeal  to  a  remarkable 
event  in  Abraham's  history.  Many  years  before  this  event 
occurred,  Abraham,  in  obedience  to  a  Divine  call,  had  left  the 
land  of  his  birth  and  his  father's  house ;  he  had  received  those 
promises  which  were  the  foundation  of  all  the  privileges  and 
distinctions  of  the  Jewish  race;  already  a  special  Divine 
providence  watched  over  him ;  quite  recently,  after  his  separa- 
tion from  Lot,  God  had  told  him  that  the  land  of  Canaan — 
northward,  southward,  eastward,  and  westward — was  to  belong 
to  him  and  his  children,  and  that  his  seed  were  to  be  as  the 
dust  of  the  earth. 

The  story  about  Melchizedek  may  be  told  in  a  few  sentences. 
Abraham's  nephew.  Lot,  had  gone  to  feed  his  flocks  in  the  rich 
and  fruitful  plains  of  Jordan,  and  was  living  in  Sodom.  The 
cities  in  that  neighbourhood  had  been  subdued  by  the  chiefs  of 
certain  Eastern  tribes,  and  for  twelve  years  had  served  Chedor- 
laomer,  King  of  Elam.  In  the  thirteenth  year,  there  was  a 
revolt  against  the  power  of  the  stranger.  But  Chedorlaomer, 
\vith  the  chiefs  that  were  in  alliance  with  him,  came  and  utterly 
overthrew  the  chiefs  of  Sodom,  Gomorrah,  and  the  neighbour- 
ing cities,  and  carried  away  many  prisoners  and  considerable 
booty.  Lot  was  among  the  captives ;  and  his  wealth,  which  he 
had  loved  so  well  and  was  so  selfishly  eager  to  increase,  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  invaders.  Abraham  heard  of  the  calamity, 
followed  the  victorious  army,  overtook  it  in  the  north-western 
borders  of  Palestine,  fell  upon  it  by  night,  and  completely 
routed  it.  Lot  and  the  other  prisoners  and  all  the  spoil  were 
recovered.  As  Abraham  was  returning  to  the  south,  Melchi- 
zedek met  him  and  brought  forth  bread  and  wdne  for  the 
refreshment  of  the  patriarch  and  his  followers — in  which 
hospitable  act,  by  the  way,  some  expositors  have  ingeniously  or 
absurdly  found  a  prophetic  anticipation  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
In  the  narrative  in  Genesis,  Melchizedek  is  described  as  "  King 


Melchizedek.  139 

of  Salem," — which  was  probably  the  country  around  the  hills  on 
which  Jerusalem  was  afterwards  built — and  ''  priest  of  the  Most 
High  God ;"  and  he  blessed  Abraham,  and  received  a  tithe  of 
the  recaptured  spoils. 

There  is  no  hint  in  the  narrative  that  any  superhuman 
dignity  belonged  to  this  Canaanitish  king ;  and  yet  the  story  is 
very  remarkable,  especially  to  those  whose  habits  of  thought  on 
all  religious  subjects  have  been  formed  by  Jewish  institutions. 
Here  is  a  Canaanitish  king,  about  whose  reign  and  subsequent 
history  not  a  solitary  fact  is  known,  recognised  by  Abraham 
himself  as  God's  priest, — receiving  tithes  from  the  illustrious 
head  of  the  Jewish  nation, — assuming  the  right  to  bless  him. 
It  is  also  rather  significant  that  some  years  afterwards,  when 
Abraham  was  commanded  to  sacrifice  Isaac,  he  was  directed  to 
go  into  the  land  of  Moriah  and  offer  his  son  for  a  burnt-offering 
on  one  of  the  mountains  there;  and  this  was  in  the  very  district 
over  which  I  have  said  that  Melchizedek  probably  reigned. 
The  name  he  bore  was  eminently  suggestive  :  he  was  "  Melchi- 
zedek " — "  king  of  righteousness  :"  his  title  was  suggestive  too  : 
he  was  "  King  of  Salem " — "  king  of  peace."  Who  is  this 
mysterious  stranger  ?  Whence  did  he  receive  his  sanctity  ? 
From  what  priestly  ancestors  did  he  spring  ?  When  did  he 
assume  his  priestly  functions  ?— when  did  he  lay  them  down  ? — 
to  whom  were  they  transmitted  ?  As  a  priest,  he  stands  before 
us  ^^  without  a  genealogy;"*  he  belongs  to  no  consecrated  hne ; 
the  commencement  of  his  priestly  functions  is  not  connected 
with  the  death  of  any  predecessor,  the  close  of  them  is  not 
marked  by  the  appearance  of  another  who  succeeded  him.  A 
priest,  "without"  a  priestly  "father,"  " ivithout"  a  "mother" 
belonging  to  the  sacerdotal  line;  without  a  definite  consecration 
signalizing  his  entrance  into  his  ofiice,  without  successors 
indicating  that  his  functions  had  ceased,— held  a  position 
altogether  unlike  that  of  the  priesthood  that  ministered  in  the 
Jewish  temple, — ^l^elonged  to  altogether  a  different  "order." 
He  was  a  king  as  well  as  a  priest. 

It   was   these   circumstances    that  made   the  priesthood  of 

*  "  Without  descent,"  i.e.,  without  a  pedigree  on  which  to  rest  his  right  to 
the  priestly  office. 


1 40  Melchizedek. 

Melchizedek  unique.  And  they  had  attracted  notice  long 
before  this  Epistle  was  written. 

In  the  Psalms,  an  inspired  writer  fixes  on  the  underived 
and  un transmitted  and  royal  priesthood  of  the  King  of  Salem 
as  the  highest  representation  of  the  priesthood  of  the  Messiah ; 
and  just  as  the  kingship  of  a  Jewish  monarch  is  sometimes 
described,  in  the  same  book,  in  language  which  passes,  by 
imperceptible  gradations,  into  a  vision  of  royal  grandeur  and 
authority  which  no  earthly  prince  could  ever  possess,  so  the 
priesthood  of  Melchizedek  is  idealized  and  exalted  until  it 
transcends  in  dignity  and  permanence  the  measures  of  a  merely 
human  ministry.  "  Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek." 

In  the  72nd  Psalm  the  inspired  poet  presents  the  true  idea 
of  a  king  anointed  by  God  to  reign  over  His  people ;  and  the 
magnificent  representation  of  a  sovereign,  who  should  "judge 
the  people  with  righteousness  and  the  poor  with  judgment," — 
who  should  "  save  the  cnildren  of  the  needy  and  break  in 
pieces  the  oppressor," — "  in  whose  days  the  righteous  "  were  to 
"  flourish," — ^who  was  to  "  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and 
from  the  river  to  the  end  of  the  earth," — whose  "  name  "  was  to 
"  endure  for  ever,"  and  to  "  continue  as  long  as  the  sun," — in 
whom  men  were  to  be  "blessed,"  and  whose  glory  was  to  "  fill 
the  whole  earth ;" — this  magnificent  representation  of  the  ideal 
king  of  the  chosen  race  could  not  possibly  become  an  actual 
fact  in  the  history  of  any  mortal  prince ;  but  in  it  all  the  kings 
of  the  Jewish  nation  were  to  recognise  the  grandeur  properly 
belonging  to  the  crown  and  throne  of  the  king  of  God's 
people— the  sublime  and  perfect  conception  to  which  their 
government  was  to  be  conformed. 

And  the  priesthood  of  Melchizedek  is  similarly  treated  in  the 
iioth  Psalm.  Because  of  its  peculiar  characteristics  it  is 
employed  to  denominate  the  everlasting  priesthood  of  the 
Messiah.  As  Priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  the  Canaanitish 
king  stood  apart  from  all  the  consecrated  descendants  of  Aaron, 
deriving  his  dignity  from  none,  transmitting  it  to  none ;  his 
royal  priesthood  was  the  noblest  visible  approach  to  the  ever- 


Melchizedek.  141 

lasting  priesthood  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  the  Psahnist  therefore 
speaks  of  Christ  as  belonging  to  the  same  priestly  order,  and  as 
fulfilling  the  idea  which  in  the  priesthood  of  Melchizedek  was 
represented  in  an  inferior  form. 

It  is  with  these  two  passages  before  him  that  the  author 
of  this  Epistle  proceeds  to  contrast  the  order  of  priesthood 
which  derives  its  name  from  Melchizedek  with  that  which 
derives  its  name  from  Aaron;  and  the  facts  contained  in 
Genesis  are  blended  with  the  idea  of  Melchizedek's  priesthood 
which  in  the  Psalm  is  developed  from  those  facts.  This  is  not 
an  unnatural  process.  If,  for  instance,  it  had  been  the  business 
of  any  inspired  writer  to  contrast  the  kingship  of  Christ  with  the 
kingship  of  heathen  monarchs,  he  might  have  said  that  Christ 
was  a  king  after  the  order  of  Solomon,  and  proceeded  to  refer  to 
certain  facts  in  Solomon's  history,  and  to  quote  those  passages 
from  the  72nd  Psalm  which  I  quoted  just  now,  to  show  that 
the  kingship  with  which  Solomon  was  invested  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  idea  of  it,  a  universal  and  everlasting  sovereignty ; 
the  monarchs  that  rule  over  the  nations  of  the  world  rule 
over  a  limited  territory,  but  it  is  testified  concerning  this  King 
that  He  has  dominion  from  sea  to  sea  :  they  die  and  pass  away, 
but  He  shall  live,  and  His  name  shall  endure  for  ever ;  Solomon 
"zj-  made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God,  and  abideth"  a  King 
^Continually."  In  such  a  discussion  there  would  have  been  a 
blending  of  what  was  true  only  of  Solomon  with  what  was  true 
only  of  that  loftier  Prince  whose  royal  greatness  Solomon 
imperfectly  and  temporarily  sustained.  There  is,  I  repeat,  a 
similar  blending  here  :  in  some  parts  of  the  chapter  the  writer 
speaks  of  what  was  actually  true  of  the  priesthood  of 
Melchizedek,  as  borne  by  the  human  king  of  Salem ;  in  other 
parts  he  loses  sight  of  the  man  and  sees  only  the  Divine 
conception  of  an  everlasting  priesthood,  which  Melchizedek 
personally  could  not  possess  :  in  other  words,  following  the 
example  of  the  iioth  Psalm,  Melchizedek  "is  made  like  unto 
the  Son  of  God,  and  abideth  a  priest  continually." 

And  "  nom  consider  how  great  this  man  was,  unto  ivhom  cvcti 


142  Melchizedek. 

the  patriarch  Abraham  gave  the  tenth  of  the  spoils^  "  The  sons  of 
Levi  who  receive  the  office  of  the  priesthood  have  a  commandment 
to  take  tithes  of  the  people  according  to  the  law ;"  the  priests  have 
this  acknowledged  symbol  of  supremacy  over  their  brethren, 
who  come,  like  themselves,  from  the  loins  of  Abraham;  but 
here  is  one  who  does  not  belong  to  the  Jewish  priesthood,  nor 
stand  in  the  line  of  their  descent,  who  "  received  tithes  from 
Abraham  "  himself,  and  whose  dignity  is  therefore  higher  than 
their  own.  Not  only  did  he  receive  tithes  from  Abraham,  but 
he  "  blessed  him  that  had  received  the  pro7nises :  now  without 
contradiction,  the  less  is  blessed  by  the  greater" — the  son  by  the 
father,  the  people  by  the  priest;  and,  therefore,  in  this 
memorable  meeting  Abraham  himself  assumes  a  position 
inferior  to  that  of  the  King  of  Salem. 

Nor  is  this  all.  By  Jewish  law  ^^men  that  die  receive  tithes; 
but  there," — and  now  the  Canaanitish  king  of  Genesis  becomes 
the  Melchizedek  of  the  Psalms — "there  he  receiveth  them  of 
whojn  it  is  witnessed  that  he  liveth;"  eternity  being  essential  to 
the  true  idea  of  the  priesthood  of  Melchizedek.  Just  as  a 
writer  asserting  the  dignity  of  the  kingship  of  Solomon,  though 
that  dignity  could  not  be  attained  by  Solomon  himself,  might 
say,  on  the  ground  of  the  72nd  Psalm,  when  referring  to  the 
gifts  that  were  brought  to  him,  here  a  king  received  tribute 
concerning  whom  it  is  said  that  "  they  shall  fear  Thee  as.  long 
as  the  sun  and  moon  endureth,  throughout  all  generations." 
This  everlasting  dominion,  though  impossible  to  Solomon,  was 
according  to  the  Psalm,  an  essential  element  of  the  divinely- 
appointed  sovereignty  of  which  Solomon's  was  a  transient  and 
imperfect  anticipation. 

Nor  is  this  all,  "as  I  may  so  say,  Levi  also,  who  receiveth 
tithes,  payed  tithes  in  Abraham,  for  he  was  yet  in  the  loins  of  his 
father  when  Melchizedek  met  him."  Honour  among  the  Jewish 
people,  being  strictly  hereditary,  all  the  privileges  of  the  race 
being  regarded  as  simply  the  inheritance  of  the  descendants  of 
Abraham,  the  throne  being  limited  to  the  descendants  of  David, 
and  the  priestly  office  to  the  descendants  of  Aaron,  this 
argument  would  have  a  greater  force  for  Jews  than  it  may  have 


Melchizedek.  143 

for  some  of  us.  What  promises  Abraham  received,  his 
descendants  were  taught  to  regard  as  given  to  them;  what 
homage  he  paid  might  also  be  fairly  regarded  as  paid  by  them. 
The  idea  of  the  strict  unity  of  a  family  in  the  person  of  its  head 
was  more  familiar  to  their  minds  than  it  is  to  ours.  Levi, 
therefore,  paid  tithes  in  Abraham;  and  the  Jewish  priesthood 
itself  acknowledged  in  that  act  the  superior  priesthood  of 
Melchizedek. 

The  remaining  part  of  the  chapter,  the  substance  of  which  I 
shall  presently  proceed  to  give,  is  much  simpler.  The  things 
"  hard  to  be  uttered,"  are  contained  in  the  first  ten  verses ; 
and  I  repeat  that  the  difficulty  in  those  verses  arises  from 
a  want  of  thoughtful  and  deep  reflection  on  the  ancient 
revelations  of  God  to  man.  But  let  me  say  that  there  is  the 
greatest  possible  difference  between  the  apostolic  method  of 
developing  the  profound  spiritual  meaning  of  certain  Jewish 
institutions  and  the  practice  of  many  modern  and  ancient 
interpreters.  Nothing  can  be  more  childish  or  irrational  than 
the  ingenuity  of  some  learned  men  in  discovering  the  whole 
substance  of  Christian  doctrine  in  some  of  the  circumstances  of 
Jewish  ceremonies,  and  in  some  of  the  incidental  phrases  of  Old 
Testament  history.  Their  whole  scheme  of  interpretation  is 
purely  arbitrary.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  prepared  to  say 
that  I  have  never  yet  found  in  the  New  Testament  any  allusions 
to  the  ancient  Jewish  Scriptures,  any  illustrations  derived  from 
the  ancient  Jewish  ritual,  which,  when  seriously  and  patiently 
studied,  have  not  proved  to  be  logically  and  philosophically 
just.  The  books  of  Moses  and  the  prophets  are  never  treated 
by  the  inspired  writers  as  affording  materials  out  of  which  an 
ingenious  fancy  has  license  to  construct  unsubstantial  demon- 
strations of  truths  which  the  authority  of  Christ  and  of  His 
apostles  sufficiently  authenticate ;  but  as  containing  imperfect 
and  elementary  revelations — hints  and  foreshadowings — in 
which  a  mind  that  has  comprehended  the  general  structure  and 
purpose  of  the  ancient  system  may  recognize  the  outlines  and 
anticipations  of  the  fully-developed  Christian  faith. 

But  to  return  to  the  eleventh  verse   of  the   chapter — the 


144  Melchizedek. 

prophecy,  in  the  iioth  Psalm,  of  the  coming  of  a  priest  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,  is  still  present  to  the  mind  of  the 
writer ;  and  he  asks — "  If,  then,  the  Levitical  priesthood— foi- 
upon  the  basis  of  it  the  people  received  the  law" — it  was  the  ver}'- 
foundation  and  centre  of  the  whole  Jewish  constitution — "?/", 
then,  the  Levitical  priesthood"  perfectly  answered  the  ends  for 
which  the  priestly  office  was  instituted,  "  if  perfection  were  by  it, 
what  fwther  need  was  there  that  a  different  priest  should  arise 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  and  that  he  is  said  to  be  not  after 
the  order  of  Aaron  ?" 

If  the  Aaronic  priesthood  had  been  perfectly  effective,  there 
would  have  been  no  such  indication  in  the  ancient  books  as 
that  contained  in  the  iioth  Psalm,  that  a  priest  was  to  arise 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  And  then,  referring  back  to 
the  parenthesis  in  the  nth  verse,  in  which  it  is  said  that  the 
whole  Jewish  constitution  was  based  on  the  Jewish  priesthood, 
he  adds — "  if  the  priesthood  is  changed,  there  comes  of  necessity  a 
change  of  the  whole  laiv"  under  which  the  Jewish  people  lived. 
And  that  such  a  change  has  come  about  is  certain,  for  "  He  of 
whom  these  things  are  spoken — that  is,  in  the  iioth  Psalm — 
belongs  to  a  different  tribe,  of  which  no  man  has  ever  devoted 
himself  to  the  altar.  For  it  is  plain  that  our  Lord,"  whom  these 
Jewish  Christians  acknowledged  to  be  the  Messiah,  though 
they  did  not  perceive  all  His  glory,  or  understand  that  by  His 
coming  the  old  system  was  abolished,  "  //  is  plain  that  our  Lord 
has  sprung  out  of  Judah,  of  which  tribe  Moses  said  nothing 
concejiiing  priesthood.  And  it  is  yet  far  more  evident  that  the  laiu 
has  been  changed — if,  according  to  the  prophetic  Psalm,  after 
the  similitude  of  Melchizedek,  there  ariseth  a  different  Priest,  ivho 
is  appointed,  not  according  to  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment " 
—that  is,  whose  functions,  authority,  and  power  are  regulated 
by  a  system  which  necessaril}-  recognized  the  frailty  and  imper- 
fections of  the  persons  by  whom  it  was  to  be  administered — ■ 
" but  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life" — having  prerogatives 
and  conferring  blessings  to  which  the  everlasting  existence  of 
the  priest  himself  is  indispensable,  for  he  testifieth,  "  Thou  art 
a  priest  for  ever,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek." 


MelcJiizedek.  145 

For  in  this  change  of  the  law  '■^  there  is  a  disannulling  of  the 
commandment  going  before," — an  abrogation  of  the  preceding 
system, — "  ofi  account  of  its  weakness  and  2inprofitableness, — for 
the  law  perfected  nothing^'' — its  precepts  could  not  sanctify  the 
life, — its  sacrifices  pointed  to  an  end  they  could  not  attain, — its 
priests  could  effect  no  real  reconciliation  to  God, — its  kings 
could  not  establish  on  earth  the  true  kingdom  of  heaven ;  and 
with  the  abolition  of  the  old  system  there  is  "  the  bringing  in 
of  a  better  hope,  by  means  of  which  we  draw  nigh  to  God." 

The  contrast  is  not  yet  closed.  "  Those  priests  were  made 
without  an  oath,  but  this"  priest  of  prophecy  who  is  now  come, 
even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  '■'■with  an  oath,  by  Him  who  saith  to 
Him,  The  Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent,  '  Thou  art  a  Priest  for 
ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  •'  and  inasmuch  as  not  without 
an  oath  He  was  made  priest,  of  so  much  better  a  covenant  hath 
Jesus  become  surety."  Nor  is  this  all.  "  They  truly  are  many 
priests  because  they  are  not  suffered  to  continue"  that  is  in  their 
priesthood,  "  by  reason  of  death;  but  He,  on  account  of  His  con- 
tinuing for  ever,  hath  an  tmchangeable  priesthood.  Wherefore  also 
He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  come  to  God  by  Him, 
seeing  He  n'er  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us.  For"  it  M-as  also 
in  harmony  with  all  our  great  necessities,  in  harmony  with  all 
our  hopes  of  present  communion  with  God,  and  everlasting 
blessedness  in  His  presence,  "  that  we  should  have  such  a  High 
Priest,  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separated"  by  His  personal 
purity,  "-from  our  sinful  race,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens, 
who  hath  no  need  day  by  day,  as  the  high  priests,  to  offer 
sacrifices,  first  for  his  own  sins,  a  fid  then  for  the  people's;  for 
this" — that  is,  as  the  context  plainly  indicates,  offer  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  people — "  this  He  did  once  for  all,  what  He 
offered  up  Himself  For  the  law  maketh  men  high  priests  who 
have  infirmity,  but  the  word  of  the  oath,  which  was  after  the  law, 
maketh  the  So?i  High  Priest,  7oho  is  perfect  for  evermore." 

And  now,  perhaps,  some  may  be  ready  to  ask,  Of  what 
service  can  it  be  to  us  to  give  time  and  strength  to  this 
elaborate  contrast  between  the  priesthood  of  the  descendants 
of  Aaron,  and  the  priesthood  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ? 
What  need  is  there  to  remind  us  that  Jewish  priests  were  com- 

L 


146  Melchizedek. 

passed  with  infirmity,  while  He  having  passed  through  the 
sufferings  and  conflicts  of  His  earthly  life  is  perfected  for  ever- 
more,— that  they  had  to  offer  sacrifices  day  by  day  for  their 
own  sins  as  well  as  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  while  He 
needeth  to  offer  no  sacrifices  for  Himself,  and  by  a  solitary 
sacrifice  atoned  for  the  sins  of  all  mankind, — that  they  died 
and  passed  away,  transmitting  their  priesthood  to  •  others, 
while  His  priesthood  permanently  remains  with  Himself, — 
that  they  were  appomted  without  an  oath,  while  He  is 
appointed  with  an  oath,  and  is  therefore  the  surety  of  a 
better  covenant?  What  need  is  there  to  prove  to  us  from 
the  ideal  priesthood  of  Melchizedek  that  He  to  whom  that 
priesthood  in  its  perfect  foma  belongs,  must  be  greater  than 
Abraham,  upon  whom  Melchizedek  conferred  a  blessing, — 
greater,  therefore,  than  all  Abraham's  descendants,  whose 
honours  were  derived  from  their  ancestor,  and  could  not  rise 
higher  than  the  fountain  whence  they  sprang  ?  What  need  is 
there  to  show  to  us  that,  according  to  Jewish  modes  of 
thought,  Levi  himself,  the  father  of  the  priestly  race  that 
ministered  in  the  Jewish  temple,  virtually  paid  tithes  to  Mel- 
chizedek, and  so  acknowledged  the  superiority  of  Melchizedek's 
priesthood  ?  What  need  is  there  to  satisfy  us  that  the  ancient 
law  has  passed  away  by  appealing  to  a  prophecy  which  indi- 
cated that  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  the  centre  of  the  Jewish 
constitution,  was  to  give  place  to  a  priesthood  of  a  different 
order ;  and  to  the  fact  that  the  Messiah,  in  whom  the  functions 
of  both  king  and,  priest  were  united,  belonged  to  a  tribe  whose 
members  had  no  right  to  minister  at  the  altar?  Why  could 
we  not  have  the  positive  truth  concerning  the  glory  and  the 
permanence  of  Christ's  priestly  office  placed  before  us  apart 
from  the  obsolete  errors  and  superstitions  of  these  Judaizing 
Christians  ? 

(i)  I  answer,  that  the  laborious  carefulness  of  this  inspired 
writer  in  discussing  and  removing  the  errors  which  prevented 
these  persons  from  acknowledging  that  their  old  law  had  passed 
away,  and  that  all  the  blessings  it  conferred  were  now  to  be 
found  in  a  nobler  and  more  lasting  fomi  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 
is  an  instructive  and   aff'ecting   example   of  how  we   are   to 


Melchizedek.  147 

endeavour  to  bring  men  to  a  true  religious  belief,  and  a  right 
state  of  heart  in  relation  to  Christ.  Stern  rebuke  for  sin,  awful 
warnings  for  those  who  are  drifting  into  apostasy,  but  calm, 
patient  reasoning,  for  the  removal  of  rooted  prejudice  and 
error, — this  is  what  the  contents  of  this  Epistle  recommend. 
The  Christian  teacher  must  never  be  satisfied  -with  general 
statements  of  positive  truth,  but  must  endeavour  to  displace 
whatever  erroneous  opinions  prevent  the  reception  of  the  truth. 

He  must  not  denounce  mere  intellectual  misapprehensions, 
except  so  far  as  they  are  the  obvious  result  of  wilfulness, 
cowardice,  or  irreligion.  He  must  be  patient  with  the  most 
irrational  follies  of  the  human  mind,  though  he  must  be 
resolute  in  condemning  all  the  sins  of  the  human  heart. 

(2)  There  is  a  warning  in  these  arguments  against  a  very 
common  danger.  The  religious  life  of  the  Jewish  race  had 
been  associated  through  many  centuries  with  a  particular 
system  of  religious  observances,  and  it  needed,  not  merely  the 
authority  of  inspiration,  but  elaborate  instruction,  nay,  it 
needed  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  itself  by  the  armies  of 
Titus,  to  prevent  the  Jewish  members  of  the  Christian  church 
endeavouring  to  perpetuate  a  ritualism,  the  use  and  power  of 
which  had  now  departed.  They  still  clung  to  their  temple, 
their  sacrifices,  and  their  priesthood.  They  could  not  relinquish 
observances  which  were  sanctified  and  made  venerable  by  the 
glorious  memories  and  by  the  sacred  traditions  of  sixteen 
hundred  years.  Had  not  the  ceremonial  law  ministered  to  the 
holiness  of  prophets  and  psalmists  and  pious  kings  and 
thousands  of  forgotten  saints  ?  Why  then  should  it  be 
abandoned  ?  That  the  changing  times  required  changing 
forms  of  religious  service,  that  the  new  thoughts  which  had 
come  from  Christ  required  new  expression,  that  the  new  life 
required  new  forms  for  its  free  growth  and  visible  manifestation, 
this  was  what  they  could  not  understand ;  this  is  what  vast 
numbers  of  Christian  people  in  every  succeeding  age  have  been 
unable  to  understand.  Institutions  which  for  centuries  rendered 
service  to  God,  customs  which  through  many  generations  were 
the  fitting  vestments  of  spiritual  thought  and  feeling,  may 
become   obstacles   to   the  free  progress  of  God's  truth,  and 


148  Melchizedek. 

solemn  mockeries  of  the  interior  religious  life.  And  yet  their 
antiquity,  and  the  sacred  associations  which  cluster  round  them, 
make  it  hard  to  remove  them  out  of  the  way,  except  by  angry 
and  violent  revolt,  by  bitter  and  exasperating  controversy.  It 
may  be  proved  that  at  one  time  the  Romish  Church,  spite  of  its 
corruptions,  rendered  noble  service  to  Christendom ;  and  when 
Luther  and  his  friends  were  in  rebellion  against  the  Romish  see, 
I  can  perfectly  understand  how  it  was  that  numbers  of  good 
men  listened  with  horror  to  his  denunciations,  and  recoiled 
from  all  fellowship  with  his  enterprise.  Illustrious  saints  had 
worshipped  at  the  altars  of  the  church,  famous  theologians,  who 
had  confuted  dangerous  heresies,  had  been  among  her  faithful 
sons,  heathen  nations  had  been  Christianized  by  her  mission- 
aries, millions  of  humble  and  uncultivated  souls  were  receiving 
some  sort  of  spiritual  guidance  from  her  services  and  her 
priests  ; — it  was  perilous,  it  was  rash,  it  was  irreverent,  to  assault 
so  august,  so  venerable  an  institution. 

And  yet  it  was  necessary.  And  Luther,  by  presuming  to 
dispute  the  supremacy  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  which  in  its 
beginnings  might  have  been  harmless  and  even  beneficial  to  the 
church,  but  which  now  had  become  a  fearful  calamity  and 
curse,  prevented  foul  stagnation  and  mortal  disease  corrupting 
and  destroying  the  religious  life  of  Christendom. 

I  can  quite  understand  how  it  was  that  even  good  and  great 
men  like  the  English  Reformers  failed  to  purify  their  Service 
Book  from  all  Romish  errors,  and  yielded  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  to  the  crown.  I  might  admit  that  greater  security 
and  greater  immediate  visible  progress  may  have  been  secured 
to  the  Reformation  movement  by  its  alliance  with  kings,  and 
that  the  Prayer  Book  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  religious 
life  of  a  people  who  were  being  led  out  of  Romanism  into  a 
clearer,  truer  faith.  But  see  how  hard  it  is  now  to  effect  any 
further  progress  !  To  touch  the  baptismal  service  seems  an 
insult  to  the  long  procession  of  devout  and  godly  men  who 
have  stood  at  the  English  font  and  given  thanks  for  the  spiritual 
renewal  of  successive  generations  of  English  children ;  and  the 
salvation  of  the  living  is  imperilled  that  the  memory  of  the 
dead  may  not  be  dishonoured. 


Melchizedek.  I49 

If  we  impeach  the  aUiance  of  Church  and  State,  we  are 
surrounded  at  once  by  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses — dignified 
bishops,  learned  theologians,  lofty  saints.  These  illustrious 
men  worshipped  and  died  in  a  church,  organized  and  governed 
by  acts  of  Parliament  and  deriving  its  revenues  largely  from 
public  law;  why  should  not  we?  And  there  are  majestic 
cathedrals,  whose  vast  and  solemn  spaces  have  been  filled 
through  century  after  century  with  measured  chant  and  lofty 
song  :  there  are  village  churches  before  whose  altars  our  fathers 
have  bowed  through  many  generations,  and  in  the  shadow  of 
whose  towers  their  dust  awaits  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 
Admirable  materials  these  for  poetry,  and  precious,  too,  for 
enriching  the  common  thoughts  and  lives  of  men,  but  utterly 
useless  in  relation  to  this  controversy. 

That  subjection  of  the  church  of  Christ  to  secular  authority — 
I  want  to  know,  not  whether  good  men  have  tacitly  or  expressly 
sanctioned  it,  but  whether  Christ  approves  it.  These  magnifi- 
cent cathedrals,  these  ancient  churches, — I  want  to  know,  not 
whether  they  aff"ord  beautiful  imagery  to  the  poet,  or  even 
whether  our  ancestors  found  religious  culture  within  their  walls, 
but  whether  it  be  true  or  no,  in  our  own  times,  that  through  the 
law  of  patronage,  through  the  necessities  of  a  national  church, 
through  the  structure  and  contents  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  sermons  are  preached  in  multitudes  of  these  sacred 
buildings,  week  after  week,  by  men  whose  teaching  points 
towards  Rome,  by  men  who  have  lost  or  are  losing  faith  in  the 
supernatural  elements  of  the  Christian  revelation,  by  men  who 
are  destitute  of  religious  life  altogether. 

And  yet,  though  this  be  proved,  there  are  tens  of  thousands 
of  good  men,  over  whose  nature  long  custom  and  reverent 
antiquity  have  cast  such  a  spell  that  they  find  it  as  difficult  to 
venture  upon  the  freedom  of  a  church  untrammelled  by  State 
control,  as  these  Jewish  Christians  found  it  to  escape  from  the 
obsolete  institutions  of  their  old  religious  faith. 

I  wish  that  we  ourselves  knew  nothing  of  this  injurious 
bondage  to  the  past ;  but  I  believe  that  if  our  fathers  had  not 
had  the  courage  and  wisdom  to  found  our  free  churches  for  us, 
few  of  us  would  have  the  vigour  and  boldness  to  do  it  for 


150  Melchizedek. 

ourselves.  Among  ourselves,  custom  asserts  too  frequently  an 
illegitimate  authority,  and  tradition  takes  the  place  of  common 
sense  and  an  intelligent  study  of  the  true  necessities  of  our 
times.  We,  too,  have  sacred  phrases  which  derive  all  their 
consecration  from  lips  that  we  know  could  sometimes  err ;  and 
old  observances  which  we  shrink  from  violating,  though  their 
wisdom  and  authority  cannot  be  demonstrated.  We,  too,  have 
to  learn  that  the  language  and  the  customs  which  may  have 
been  the  best  possible  to  former  generations,  may  now  obscure 
our  religious  thought  and  impede  our  religious  action  :  we  may 
be  assisted  in  learning  this  by  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and 
a  thoughtful  study  of  the  errors  against  which  its  argument  is 
directed. 

(3)  It  is  of  some  importance  to  us,  I  think,  to  be  reminded 
that  the  Christian  faith  did  not  come  into  the  world  abruptly 
and  without  due  preparation ;  but  that,  through  all  the  ages  of 
human  history,  Divine  providence  and  Divine  revelations  had 
been  educating  the  intellect  and  heart  of  mankind  for  the 
reception  of  Christ.  The  great  thoughts  of  the  New  Testament 
have  their  roots  at  the  very  gate  of  the  garden  of  Eden.  The 
glory  which  shines  from  the  face  of  Christ  had  shed  a  dim 
twilight  on  the  darkness  of  previous  centuries.  A  whole 
nation  had  been  consecrated  to  the  developement  of  imperfect 
anticipations  of  the  final  manifestation  of  God.  This  ennobles 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles ;  this  supplies  a 
separate  and  independent  evidence  of  their  Divine  commission. 
How  was  it  that  for  sixteen  hundred  years  one  religious  faith 
continued  to  exist  among  the  Je\\ash  people,  spite  of  their  rest- 
lessness and  vacillation,  spite  of  their  impatience  under  its 
yoke,  spite  of  their  inability  to  appreciate  its  moral  and 
spiritual  dignity, — how  was  it  that  this  faith  survived  the 
invasion  of  foreign  armies,  subjugation  to  foreign  kings,  cap- 
tivity in  foreign  lands  ?  How  was  it  that  from  Moses  down  to 
John  the  Baptist  the  same  rehgious  principles  were  steadily 
proclaimed,  the  same  mysterious  hopes  clung  to,  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  their  national  history  and  by  all  their 
authoritative  religious  teachers — by  kings,  warriors,  shepherds, 
priests ;  by  men  of  lofty  genius,  by  men  whose  only  power  was 


Melchisedek.  151 

derived  from  their  commission  as  the  prophets  of  God  ?  How- 
was  it  that,  at  last,  when  the  spirit  and  aims  of  this  protracted 
system  of  disciphne  were  unintelUgible  to  all  the  nation 
besides,  a  few  peasants  and  fishermen  rose  up,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  fierce  hostility  of  all  the  authorities  in  Church  and  State, 
founded  new  religious  institutions,  in  which  all  that  had  been 
believed  and  hoped  for  in  previous  ages,  suddenly  assumed  a 
transcendently  glorious  form,  received  its  obvious  interpretation 
and  perfect  fulfilment  ? 

The  Old  Testament,  with  its  ceremonial  and  prediction';, 
was  hardly  less  essential  to  the  mission  of  the  aposdes  than  the 
history  of  Christ.  If  you  tell  me  that  the  imagination  of  the 
early  Church  created  the  four  Gospels,  I  ask  whether  the 
Church  also  invented  Moses  and  the  prophets?  Of  the 
apostolic  band,  it  was  essential  that  all  should  tell  the  same 
story :  if  this  was  the  result  of  close  conspiracy,  I  ask  whether 
Abraham,  Moses,  and  David  were  also  in  the  plot  ?  If  you 
tell  me  that  the  raising  of  Lazarus  was  a  fiction,  though  the 
priests  that  crucified  the  Lord  believed  it,  and  Judas,  who 
betrayed  Him,  had  no  secrets  to  tell  to  expose  the  knavery  of 
his  former  Master  and  brethren,  I  will  show  you  another 
miracle  :  here  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  I  see  an  ancient 
Faith  out  of  which  the  life  has  gone,  being  carried  to  its 
sepulchre,  and  a  Christian  writer  stops  the  funeral  procession, 
touches  the  bier,  and  the  lips  of  the  dead  religion  open  and 
bear  testimony  to  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

(4)  Finally,  This  story  of  Melchizedek  has  another  use  :  It 
reminds  us  that  even  in  ancient  times  the  knowledge  and 
service  of  the  true  God  were  not  limited  to  the  chosen  race. 
It  was  a  Canaanitish  king  who  was  priest  of  the  Most  High, 
and  to  whom  Abraham  religiously  devoted  a  tenth  of  his  spoils. 
In  after  times  the  light  that  shone  with  the  brightest  lustre  in 
Jerusalem  sometimes  penetrated  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Jewish  people.  It  shone  in  the  streets  of  Nineveh  when  Jonah 
preached  there ;  and  the  Ninevites  repented  of  their  sins.  It 
shone  in  Belshazzar's  court  when  Daniel  prophesied  there ;  and 
Babylon  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  only  true  God. 


152  Melchizedek. 

And  we  may  cherish  the  hope  that  fragments  of  early  revela- 
tion floated  down  all  the  divided  streams  of  national  history, 
and  reached  multitudes  of  souls  of  whose  humble  reverence  for 
an  almost  unknown  God  nothing  is  recorded  in  history  sacred 
or  profane,  but  who,  loving  the  light  that  reached  them,  faint 
as  the  light  was,  shall  not  enter  into  condemnation ;  and  that 
so,  from  the  east,  and  the  west,  and  the  north,  and  the  south, 
out  of  nominally  heathen  lands,  many  shall  come  and  sit  down 
with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

This  story  of  Melchizedek,  with  all  the  truths  that  underlie 
it,  is  another  proof,  standing  on  the  very  title  page  of  Jewish 
history,  that  "  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,"  and  never  has 
been;  but  that  "in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him  and 
worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  with  Him." 


WHAT  IS  A  TYPE  ? 

"  Now,  of  the  things  which  we  have  spolcen  this  is  tlie  sum  :  We  have  such  an 
High  Priest,  who  is  set  on  the  riglit  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in 
the  heavens,"  &c. — Hebrews  viii,  1-5. 

The  discussion  concerning  Melchizedek  has  now  closed. 
The  writer  has  shown  that  the  Jewish  Scriptures  themselves 
indicated  that  the  priesthood  of  the  descendants  of  Aaron  was 
not  to  be  perpetual,  but  was  to  give  place  to  a  priesthood  of  a 
higher  order, — a  priesthood  underived,  untransmitted,  and 
having  a  dignity  and  authority  with  which  mortal  men  could 
not  be  invested.  And  now  he  tells  his  readers  that  "  the 
prmcipal  thing "  of  which  he  is  speaking  is,  that  "  we  have  a 
High  Priest  who  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the 
Majesty  in  the  heavens ;''  who  is  "  «:  minister''''  not  of  an  earthly 
temple,  '■'■but  of  the  true  tabernacle  which  the  Lord  pitched,  and 
not  ma7iP  That  He  cannot  be  a  mere  earthly  priest,  nor  pre- 
sent mere  earthly  sacrifices,  is  shown  in  the  next  two  verses. 
"  Every  High  Priest  is  ordained  to  offer  gifts  and  sacrifices  ;  and 
so  Christ"  if  His  priestly  name  and  office  are  not  an  idle  form, 
"  must  also  have  somewhat  to  offer :  but  if  He  were  on  earth  He 
woidd  not  be  a  pricsf^  at  all,  for  a  tribe,  a  family  to  which  He  did 
not  belong,  had  been  appointed  and  consecrated  "  to  offer  ^ifts 
according  to  the  law"  He  is,  therefore  priest  in  another 
sanctuary,  and  offers  other  gifts  :  and  what  these  are  the  next 
verse  informs  us ;  the  service  of  the  Jewish  priests  is  devoted  to 
the  "  example,"  or  visible  illustration  and  shadow  of  "  heavenly 
things,"  as  may  be  suggested  indeed  by  what  God  said  to 
Moses  when  ^^  he  was  about  to  complete  the  tabernacle,  'for  see,' 
said  He,  '  that  thou  make  all  things  accorditig  to  the  pattern 
shoived  to  thee  in  the  7nount'  " 


154  W/iat  is  a  Type? 

These  words  appear  to  me  a  general  introduction  to  the 
contrast  which  the  writer  now  proceeds  to  draw  between  the 
old  covenant  and  the  new, — the  access  to  God  granted  in  the 
Jewish  temple,  and  the  access  to  God  granted  to  Christian 
believers  through  Christ, — the  numerous  Levitical  sacrifices, 
and  the  great  sacrifice  once  offered  for  the  sins  of  mankind. 
Already  he  has  vindicated  and  illustrated  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Himself,  as  being  greater  than  angels,  greater  than 
Moses.  He  has  also  shown  that,  according  to  Jewish  prophecy, 
Christ  is  not  only  a  priest,  but  a  priest  belonging  to  a  loftier 
rank  than  that  of  Aaron  and  his  sons ;  and  now  the  first  part  of 
the  Epistle  is  about  to  close  by  a  profoundly  interestihg 
illustration  of  the  superiority  of  the  Christian  dispensation 
itself  to  that  religious  constitution  which  these  Jewish  believers 
were  longing  to  perpetuate.  The  personal  supremacy  of  Christ 
above  all  who  had  to  do  with  founding  or  maintaining  the  ancient 
system  has  been  made  clear ;  the  superiority  of  His  priesthood 
to  that  of  the  sons  of  Aaron  in  permanence  and  in  the  solemnity 
of  the  consecration  by  which  He  was  appointed  to  it,  has  also 
been  showoi ;  and  the  whole  argument  of  the  Epistle  for  stead- 
fast loyalty  to  Christ,  and  against  apostasy  to  Judaism,  is  about 
to  be  crowned  and  completed  by  the  contrast,  which  extends  to 
the  middle  of  the  tenth  chapter,  between  the  inferior  promises 
and  the  merely  symbolic  institutions  of  the  old  covenant,  and 
the  nobler  and  eternal  blessings  which  belong  to  the  new. 

There  is  one  expression  in  these  introductory  verses  to  which 
I  wish  to  call  your  most  thoughtful  attention.  The  writer  does 
not  dwell  upon  it ;  but  it  is  developed  and  illustrated  in  the 
next  two  chapters.  The  institutions  of  Judaism  are  represented 
as  visible  illustrations,  "shadows  of  heavenly  things;"  the  very 
forms  of  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  tabernacle  were  made  after  a 
pattern  which  was  sho\vn  tc  Moses  in  the  mount,  and  the  whole 
ritual  was  a  revelation  and  a  prophecy  of  spiritual  and  eternal 
realities. 

This  sentence  is  plainly  of  the  very  gravest  importance  in 
reference  to  the  relation  between  the  institutions  of  the  ancient 
worship  and  the  great  truths  and  facts  of  the  Christian  system  ; 
and,  as  that  relation  has  been  greatly  misunderstood,  and  is  still 


Wkat  is  a  Type?  155 

perhaps  most  imperfectly  and  even  incorrectly  conceived,  by 
many  Christian  people,  I  wish  to  explain  it  as  clearly  and  as 
briefly  as  I  can.  All  that  follows  in  the  argumentative  part  of 
this  Epistle  will  be  a  mere  riddle  and  perplexity  to  thoughful 
persons,  if  the  general  principle  which  this  expression  affirms  is 
not  grasped  with  firmness  and  accuracy. 


I. 

To  understand  it  aright  there  are,  I  think,  three  very  simple 
facts  which  need  to  be  carefully  considered  and  constantly 
remembered. 

(i)  The  first  is,  that  the  Jewish  system  was  intended  for  the 
culture  of  the  religious  life  of  the  Jews  themselves. 

I  find,  on  reading  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  that  for 
about  sixteen  hundred  years  before  Christ  came,  the  descen- 
dants of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  were  living  under  a  civil 
polity  and  maintaining  ritualistic  observances  instituted  by  God 
Himself.  No  matter  whether  the  idea  of  oftering  sacrifice 
originated  with  man,  or  was  given  at  first  by  Divine  revelation  ; 
no  matter  whether  the  resemblances  between  the  Levitical 
ceremonies  and  the  rites  of  certain  pagan  systems  were  numer- 
ous or  few;  the  declarations  of  holy  Scripture  are  perfectly 
miambiguous  that  the  whole  of  the  Jev/ish  system  had  God's 
sanction.  It  is  equally  certain  that  while  many  parts  of  the 
Levitical  law  may  have  rested  on  social  or  sanitary  grounds 
exclusively,  there  were  other  parts  which  were  religious  in 
their  principle  and  purpose.  There  was  a  temple  for  worship  ; 
there  were  sacrifices  for  sin ;  there  were  consecrated  priests. 
Through  generation  after  generation  the  appointed  victims  were 
consumed  on  the  altar ;  festival  after  festival  the  outer  courts  of 
the  sanctuary  were  crowded  with  worshippers ;  year  after  year 
the  High  Priest  entered  with  reverence  and  fear  and  awe  into 
the  Holy  of  Holies. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me  incredible  that  all  this  should  have 
been  a  mystery  without  meaning  to  Moses,  to  Aaron,  to 
Samuel,  to  David,  to  Isaiah,  and  to  all  the  prophets  ;  incredi- 
ble, that  the  tens  of  thousands  of  holy  men  who  took  part  in 


156  What  is  a  Type? 

these  solemn  rites,  should  have  connected  them  with  no  moral 
or  spiritual  truths.  If  it  be  alleged  that  this  cumbrous  and 
stately  system  was  altogether  unintelligible  till  Christ  came, — a 
riddle,  without  a  solution  till  then, — I  can  only  ask.  For  what 
purpose  did  it  exist  at  all  ?  Perhaps  it  may  be  said  that  it  is 
an  additional  aid  to  our  faith  to  discover  in  these  Jewish  rites, 
curious  and  even  profound  anticipations  of  the  fully-developed 
Christian  faith  ;  but,  if  that  had  been  the  solitary  object  of 
these  institutions,  it  would  surely  have  been  enough  if  the 
ceremonies  had  been  performed,  once  for  all,  when  the  people 
were  at  Sinai,  or  when  Solomon  came  to  the  throne,  or  if  they 
had  been  solemnly  enacted  once  every  hundred  years.  If  they 
were  simply  unintelligible  prophecies  of  Christ, — prophecies 
which  could  not  be  understood  until  Christ  came, — what  need 
was  there  that,  day  after  day,  year  after  year,  century  after 
century,  they  should  be  still  repeated  ?  Moreover,  it  is 
singularly  unfortunate,  if  the  ceremonial  system  had  no  mean- 
ing for  the  Jews  themselves,  and  reserved  all  its  wealth  of 
instruction  for  Christian  times,  that  this  very  system  proved  a 
very  perilous  hindrance  to  the  Christian  faith  in  the  first  age, 
and  that  ever  since,  it  has  been  to  so  large  an  extent  a  difficulty 
requiring  to  be  explained,  instead  of  an  independent  source  of 
instruction  on  Christian  doctrine  or  practice.  We  understand 
it  imperfectly ;  if  the  Jews  before  Christ  did  not  understand  it 
at  all,  it  has  certainly  proved  a  very  remarkable  and  uncom- 
pensated failure.  It  is  surely  far  more  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  Levitical  institutions  had  a  religious  meaning  for  the 
Jews  themselves,  and  exerted  a  real  and  powerful  influence  on 
their  religious  life. 

(2)  The  principles  of  true  religion  have  always  been  the 
same  as  they  are  now,  ever  since  man  sinned  and  God  deter- 
mined to  effect  his  redemption  through  the  incarnation,  death, 
resurrection,  and  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I  do  not  say  that  those  principles  were  revealed  at  first  as 
clearly  as  they  are  revealed  now ;  but  that,  although  our  know- 
ledge of  God  and  of  His  salvation  is  much  fuller  than  Adam,  or 
Abraham,  or  Moses  possessed,  what  was  true  in  their  times  is 
true  still;  that,  if  God  taught  them  anything.  He  must  have 


W/iat  is  a  Type?  157 

taught  them  substantially  the  same  things  He  has  taught  us, 
although  the  teaching  was  clear  only  when  it  dealt  with  the 
most  elementary  truths,  and  became  obscure  when  it  passed 
beyond  them.  As  far  as  it  went,  the  revelation  of  God  to  the 
Jewish  race  must  have  been  substantially  identical  with  His 
revelation  to  ourselves.  For  instance,  it  was  as  true  then  as  it 
is  now,  that  there  is  but  one  God, — that  His  character  is  holy, 
and  that  His  law  requires  man  to  be  holy  too  : — that  man  has 
sinned,  needs  God's  forgiveness,  and  that  whenever  God 
forgives,  it  is  because  man's  relation  to  Himself  is  derived  from 
the  suffering  of  another  on  man's  behalf  These  things  have 
been  always  true,  and  although  they  have  not  always  been 
revealed  as  fully  and  clearly  as  they  are  now,  yet  if  man 
received  in  ancient  times  any  knowledge  of  God — of  God's 
moral  attributes,  of  God's  will ;  and  of  his  own  moral  condition 
and  the  means  of  escaping  from  his  guilt  and  ruin ;  these  truths, 
whether  they  were  more  dimly  or  more  distinctly  communi- 
cated, must  have  had  a  place  in  Divine  revelation.  The  forms 
in  which  truth  of  this  order  is  clothed  may  vary, — the  measure 
of  man's  knowledge  of  it  may  vary  :  but  the  truth  itself  is 
invariable. 

And  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  same  truths  substantially 
that  we  believe  now — not  all  of  them,  perhaps,  but,  so  far  as 
they  went,  the  same — were  believed  by  God's  saints  in  the  old 
times,  is  sufficiently  plain  from  this,  that  their  actual  spiritual 
life  was  so  like  our  own,  that  many  Christian  people — erro- 
neously, as  I  am  compelled  to  think — suppose  that  the  book  of 
Psalms,  in  which  the  devotion  of  the  Jewish  saints  is  uttered, 
contains  a  full  and  adequate  expression  for  the  religious  life  of 
the  Church  in  all  ages. 

If,  from  some  remote  world,  an  angelic  visitor  were  to  bring 
fruits  and  flowers  precisely  like  those  with  which  we  ourselves 
are  already  familiar,  it  would  be  a  fair  inference  that  the 
elements  of  the  soil  in  that  unknown  orb  were  the  same  as  they 
are  here, — that  there  was  heat  there  like  that  in  which  our  own 
flowers  blossom  and  our  own  fruits  ripen, — that  there  was  an 
atmosphere  there  like  our  own,  and  rain.  And  so,  if  we  knew 
nothing  of  the  revelation  which  God  had  made  to  the  Jewish 


158  W/iai  is  a   Type? 

people,  there  would  be  enough  in  the  Book  of  Psalms  alone,  to 
convince  us  that  it  was  substantially  the  same  as  the  revelation 
He  has  made  to  us ;  for  in  that  book  the  moral  and  spiritual 
results  of  the  ancient  revelation  are  preserved  to  us,  and  they 
are  of  the  same  kind  as  the  results  of  the  revelation  made  to 
ourselves.  David  knew  as  well  as  we  know  that  the  gods  of 
the  nations  are  idols,  and  that  Jehovah  is  the  sole  Creator  of  the 
heavens  which  declare  His  glory,  and  of  the  earth  which  is  full 
of  His  goodness.  He  knew  that  sin  was  intolerable  to  God, 
and,  under  the  consciousness  of  his  guilt,  cried  passionately, 
"  Cast  me  not  away  from  Thy  presence."  He  knew  that 
though  "  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day,"  "  there  is 
forgiveness  with  Him  that  He  may  be  feared,"  and  could  sing 
with  tranquil  joy  of  the  blessedness  of  the  man  "whose  trans- 
gression is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is  covered." 

If,  then,  the  Jewish  system  was  intended  for  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  Jews  themselves, — and  if  religious  truth 
remains  the  same  through  all  ages — it  follows  necessarily  that 
we  may  expect  to  find  in  the  institutions  of  Judaism  the  same 
truths  which  are  more  fully  and  gloriously  revealed  by  Christ 
Himself  and  the  inspired  writers  of  the  New  Testament. 

(3)  This  conclusion  is  confirmed,  and  the  necessary  limits  of 
it  suggested,  by  the  fact  that  Judaism  is  always  represented  in 
the  New  Testament  as  a  system  intended  to  discipline  and 
educate  men  for  the  coming  of  Christ. 

If  the  Jewish  institutions  were  introductory  to  the  Christian 
revelation,  they  must  surely  have  been  in  essential  harmony 
with  it,  and  have  taught  substantially  the  same  truths.  If  they 
were  intended  to  discipline  the  Jewish  people  for  Christ's 
coming,  their  spiritual  influence  must  have  been  in  harmony 
with  that  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  must  have  formed  the 
spiritual  life  after  the  same  model. 

And  yet,  since  they  were  only  introductor}^,  and  formed  only 
a  preparatory  discipline,  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  Jewish 
saints — even  the  wisest  and  holiest — found  in  them  all  that  we 
find  in  the  four  Gospels,  and  the  writings  of  the  apostles.  The 
Jewish  institutions,  according  to  the  language  of  this  Epistle, 
were  not  full  disclosures  of  Divine  truth ;  they  were  pictures  or 


What  is  a  Type?  159 

delineations — "  s/u7do7c>s  0/  //cavc^/y  t/i///gs" — but  still  heavenly- 
things  were  actually  revealed  through  them. 


II. 

And  now,  keeping  these  three  principles  in  mind,  it  will  not 
be  difficult  to  perceive  what  we  ought  to  understand  by  the 
typical  character  of  Old  Testament  ritualism,  and  of  Old 
Testament  history. 

According  to  the  use  of  the  writers  of  the  Christian 
Scriptures,  if  an  ancient  ceremony  was  obviously  intended  by 
God  to  reveal  to  the  Jew  a  certain  religious  principle  or  truth, 
that  ceremony  is  treated  as  a  type  of  the  Christian  yc?r/  in  which 
the  same  principle  or  truth  is  now  revealed. 

For  instance,  take  those  words  of  our  Lord's  in  which  He 
says,  "  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it 
again,"  words  which  according  to  the  evangelist,  referred  to  the 
temple  of  His  body.  Are  we  to  suppose  that  the  connection 
between  the  body  of  Christ  and  the  Jewish  temple  was  purely 
arbitrary  ?  Or  was  there  any  outward  resemblance  between 
them  which  justified  the  Lord  Jesus  in  speaking  of  the  one  as  a 
type  of  the  other  ?     By  no  means. 

Try  to  imagine  yourself  a  Jew — -a  devout  Jew — who  had 
come  out  from  among  the  idolatries  and  superstitions  of  Egypt, 
into  the  wilderness.  He  knew  that  the  gods  which  were  wor- 
shipped by  the  Egyptians  were  mere  creations  of  the  human 
imagination,  that  their  visible  forms  were  the  work  of  human 
hands.  He  knew  too,  that  the  Jehovah  he  worshipped  had 
created  all  things  ;  the  thunder  was  the  symbol  of  His  voice, 
and  the  lightning  of  His  vengeance.  He  reigned  in  the  highest 
heavens,  was  infinite  in  power,  and  in  wisdom,  and  perfect  in 
holiness.  Occasionally  He  had  appeared  to  the  saintly  men  of 
his  race ;  to  Abraham  in  the  old  time ;  to  Moses  more 
recently ;  but  was  not  God  too  great  and  awful  to  be  accessible 
to  common  men  ?  Could  even  the  holiest  expect  that  He 
would  be  always  near  to  them  ? 

The  tabernacle,  constructed  by  God's  own  appointment,  was 
the  answer  to  all  his  apprehensions.      In  the  centre  of  the 


i6o  W/iat  is  a  Typef 

camp,  surrounded  by  common  dwellings,  though  composed  of 
more  cosdy  materials  as  became  the  Divine  glory,  there  was  a 
tent  which  was  to  be  regarded  as  God's  dwelling-place.  It  was 
divided  into  separate  courts,  and  the  innermost  sanctuary  was 
to  be  entered  only  by  the  high  priest,  and  by  him  only  once  a 
year ;  but  still,  there  was  the  Divine  home  standing  among  the 
common  homes  of  the  nation  :  into  the  outer  court  all  the 
people  might  at,  any  time  have  access,  and  into  the  inner  court 
of  all — the  very  presence-chamber  of  Jehovah — the  high  priest 
entered  as  the  representative  of  all  the  people.  The  tabernacle 
first,  the  temple  afterwards,  was  a  visible  sign  of  how  near  God 
was  to  man,  that  no  immeasurable  interval  separated  the 
Highest  of  all  from  our  sinful  race,  that  in  no  unexpected 
vicissitudes  of  human  history  was  He  far  away ;  He  had  made 
a  home  among  the  children  of  men.  This  was  the  obvious 
truth  which  the  tabernacle  and  temple  taught  the  Jewish 
people ;  and  the  very  same  truth,  in  a  far  more  wonderful, 
impressive,  and  glorious  form,  was  taught  by  the  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  world  in  a  human  body.  That  body,  the  vesture 
of  a  Divine  person,  taught  all  tliat  the  temple  taught  concern- 
ing God's  nearness  to  man,  and  taught  it  far  more  fully.  And 
for  this  reason,  Christ  could  fitly  appropriate  to  the  one  the 
very  term  which  denominated  the  other. 

I  do  not  wish  to  anticipate  the  discussion  of  the.  Jewish 
sacrifices  which  occupies  the  next  chapter,  but  perhaps  these 
afford  a  still  simpler  illustration  of  the  principles  I  am  anxious 
to  establish.  For  instance,  when  a  devout  Jew  looked  upon 
the  sacrifices  which  were  slain  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  nation 
on  the  great  day  of  atonement,  what  impression  would  they 
produce  on  his  mind  ?  Are  we  to  suppose  that  he  foresaw 
that  the  time  would  come  when  God  Himself,  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  would  stoop  to  shame  and  death  that  human 
transgression  might  be  forgiven  ?  I  think  not ;  whatever  inti- 
mations of  this  kind  may  be  found  in  the  Psalms  and  the 
Prophets,  came  long  after  the  sacrificial  system  was  first 
instituted,  and  must  have  been,  till  the  coming  of  Christ,  very 
mysterious  and  dim.  But  he  saw  in  the  sacrifices  a  visible 
declaration,  made  by  the  Divine  authority,  of  the  ill  desert  of 


W/iat  is  a  Type?  i6i 

sin  :  he  saw  also  that  it  was  God's  will  that  sin  should  be 
forgiven,  and  forgiven,  not  on  account  of  any  great  and  noble 
works  wrought  by  the  repentant  sinner  himself ;  for  to  offer  the 
animal  sacrifices  for  the  sin  of  the  whole  people,  required  no 
self-denial  worth  considering  on  the  part  of  any  individual,  and 
the  forgiveness  which  might  be  obtained  when  they  were 
offered,  was  plainly  the  free,  undeserved  act  of  the  Divine 
mercy.  Conviction  of  the  evil  of  sin,  trust  for  pardon  in  the 
grace  of  God,  and  not  in  any  atonement  to  be  effected  by  their 
own  right  doing,  were  naturally  encouraged  by  these  annual 
offerings.  Nor  was  this  all :  the  whole  Jewish  nation  was 
gradually  familiarized  with  the  idea  that  by  God's  appointment 
forgiveness  of  sin  was  connected  with  the  sufferings  of  a  victim 
guilty  of  no  offence  against  the  Divine  law. 

But  these  same  truths  lie  at  the  very  basis  of  the  atonement 
made  by  Christ  for  human  sin ;  and  these  same  spiritual  results,  /', 
conviction  of  the  evil  of  sin,  simple  trust  in  the  Divine  mercy; '' 
for  pardon,  are  encouraged  by  His  death.     And  hence  Jewish  V 
sacrifices  are  typical  of  Christ's  atonement.  ' 

The  same  principle  which  determines  the  typical  character  of 
rehgious  institutions  and  ceremonies  determines  also  the  typical 
character  of  historical  narratives.  The  fancy  of  theologians  has 
run  wild  in  attaching  spiritual  meanings  to  Old  Testament 
stories,  and,  by  a  natural  reaction,  many  thoughtful  men  have 
come  to  think  with  unmitigated  contempt  of  all  typical  interpre- 
tations of  historical  facts,  whether  in  the  lives  of  individual 
saints  or  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The  in- 
numerable wives  of  Solomon  have  been  spiritualized  into  a 
typical  representation  of  the  innumerable  virtues  of  his 
character;  Samson's  meeting  a  young  lion  has  been  made 
typical  of  Christ's  meeting  Saul  on  his  way  to  Damascus ; 
Jacob's  purchasing  of  the  birthright  by  red  pottage,  of  Christ's 
purchasing  heaven  for  us  by  His  own  red  blood,  and  Jacob's 
being  clothed  in  Esau's  garment  when  the  blessing  was 
obtained,  of  Christ's  being  clothed  in  our  nature  when  the 
purchase  was  effected.  All  these  fanciful  analogies  are  un- 
worthy of  the  dignity  of  holy  Scripture  ;  a  system  of  interpreta- 
tion dealing  in  such  puerilities  and  arbitrary  conceits  as  these, 

M 


1 62  W/iat  is  a  Type? 

must  manifestly  be  utterly  vague  and  uncertain.  On  sucli 
i:)rinciples  anything  may  be  brought  out  of  anything. 

But  if,  in  God's  government  of  the  Jewish  people  or  His 
providential  ordering  of  an  individual  life,  any  principle  is 
obviously  revealed,  which  is  exemplified  in  a  higher  form  in  the 
l)resent  spiritual  relations  of  mankind,  a  typical  element  may  be 
fairly  recognised. 

An  Old  Testament  type  is  the  exhibition,  in  an  inferior  form, 
of  a  truth,  a  principle,  a  law,  which  is  revealed  in  a  higher  form 
in  the  Christian  dispensation. 


THE  NEW  COVENANT. 

"  But  now  hath  He  obtained  a  more  excellent  ministry,  by  how  much  also  He 
is  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  which  was  established  upon  better 
promises,"  (S;c. — Hebrews  viii,  6-13, 

The  sermon  last  Sunday  morning  was  intended  to  establish 
and  illustrate  the  great  principle  which  should  govern  all  our 
inquiries  into  the  relations  between  the  Jewish  temple  and  the 
Christian  church.  The  institutions  of  Judaism  were  the 
"shadows  of  heavenly  things."  To  us,  the  heavenly  things 
themselves  have  been  revealed.  In  the  verses  which  we  have 
to  consider  now,  the  contrast  in  detail,  between  the  old 
covenant  and  the  new,  which  forms  the  close  of  the  argumenta- 
tive part  of  this  Epistle,  commences,  and  this  contrast  involves 
some  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  questions  of 
Christian  theology. 

The  word  ^^  cove?ia?it"  has  a  very  technical  sound,  and  seems 
to  belong  rather  to  scholastic  theologians  than  to  ordinary 
Christian  people  ;  but  I  do  not  think  we  can  do  without  it. 
The  idea  it  represents  is  simple  enough.  The  Jewish  people 
held  a  certain  relationship  to  God ;  and  the  word  "  covenant " 
is  used  to  denote  the  basis  and  terms  of  that  relationship. 
God  conferred  on  them  very  wonderful  privileges,  and  to  retain 
these  privileges  they  were  required  to  obey  His  laws  ;  Moses 
was  the  "mediafor"  of  the  covenant;  he  told  the  people,  in 
God's  name,  the  blessings  which  it  was  in  God's  heart  to 
bestow  upon  them,  and  he  told  them  also  what  conditions  they 
had  to  fulfil  in  order  that  God's  intention  might  be  accom- 
plished. These  conditions  were  deliberately  accepted  ;  so  the 
covenant  was  established. 

But  Christ,  it  is  affirmed,  has  obtained  a  "  minisfry  "  as  much 


164  The  Neiv   Covenant. 

^^ more  excelknt"  than  that  of  Moses  as  the  new  covenant  is 
better  than  the  old  ;  and  that  the  relations  between  man  and 
God,  established  by  Christ,  are  better  than  the  relations  estab- 
lished by  Moses,  is  the  subject  of  the  remaining  part  of  this 
chapter,  and  extends  to  the  middle  of  the  tenth. 


I. 

It  may  assist  us  to  understand  this  discussion  if  we  consider 
what  the  Mosaic  covenant  was,  in  its  essence  and  purpose. 

(i)  The  law  given  to  Moses  was  not  the  original  foundation 
of  the  high  distinctions  which  belonged  to  the  Jewish  race. 
The  history  of  the  chosen  people  did  not  begin  when  they 
stood  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai  and  listened  with  terror  to  the 
voice  of  God.  Several  hundred  years  before,  Abraham  had 
obeyed  the  Divine  call,  had  manifested  an  immoveable  faith  in 
the  Divine  word,  and  had  been  told  that  his  descendants  were 
to  be  numerous  as  the  stars  of  heaven  and  the  sands  of  the  sea 
shore,  were  to  become  a  great  nation,  and  were  to  be  the  source 
of  blessings  to  all  mankind.  God  did  not  wait  until  the  Jewish 
nation  had  shown  their  fidelity  to  His  law,  before  He  promised 
to  give  them  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  to  raise  up  among  them 
the  Messiah.  These  promises  were  theirs  before  the  law  was 
promulgated.  Already  they  had  been  delivered  from  bondage 
in  Egypt;  already  they  had  been  separated  from  the  rest  of 
mankind ;  already  the  greatest  of  the  prophets  had  been  sent  to 
them  ;  and  all  the  religious  privileges  which  were  inseparable 
from  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  promises  to  Abraham,  privi- 
leges which  were  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  Jewish  race,  rested, 
not  on  the  Mosaic  law,  but  on  the  Abrahamic  promises,  which 
the  law  did  not  and  could  not  annul. 

(2)  Although  what  is  elsewhere  called  the  "inheritance"  of 
the  Jewish  people  was  not  a  reward  for  their  obedience  to  the 
Divine  law,  that  inheritance  would  prove  a  curse  instead  of  a 
blessing  to  them  if  they  were  disobedient. 

It  was  not  because  of  their  own  goodness  that  they  were 
called  out  from  among  the  other  nations  of  the  earth,  to  stand 
nearer  to  God  and  to  prepare  for  the  coming  of  Christ ;  but, 


TJie  Nciv   Covenant.  165 

having  been  called,  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  be  loyal 
to  the  Divine  authority.  It  was  not  because  of  their  ov/n 
obedience  that  they  received  the  promise  of  the  land  of  Canaan 
as  a  Divine  gift ;  but  having  received  that  promise,  it  was 
necessary,  if  God's  name  was  not  to  be  dishonoured,  that  the}' 
should  renounce  the  worship  of  idols,  and  present  to  the  world 
the  noble  spectacle  of  a  devout  and  upright  people.  From 
the  nature  of  the  inheritance  which  belonged  to  them  as  the 
descendants  of  Abraham,  it  could  not  be  theirs  in  all  its  wealth 
and  glory  unless  they  were  faithful  to  God. 

An  earthly  king  does  not  receive  his  crown  and  throne  as  the 
reward  of  his  excellence  ;  he  derives  it  from  his  ancestors  ;  but, 
being  a  king,  he  is  bound  to  govern  justly  and  righteously. 

Paul  was  not  called  to  the  apostleship  because  of  his  personal 
merit ;  but,  being  called  to  the  apostleship,  he  was  bound  to  be 
zealous,  courageous,  and  laborious  in  discharging  its  duties  ; 
and  the  blessedness  and  honour  conferred  upon  him  by  his 
appointment  would  not  only  have  been  lost,  they  would  have 
given  place  to  the  most  appalling  misery  and  shame,  if  the 
responsibilities  of  his  vocation  had  not  been  faithfully  dis- 
charged. 

And  so,  tlie  high  distinctions  of  the  Jewish  people  were 
originally  derived  from  God's  promises  to  Abraham ;  but,  if 
these  distinctions  were  not  to  be  their  ruin  and  disgrace,  it  was 
necessary  that  they  should  bear  themselves  worthily  of  their 
noble  and  yet  perilous  position. 

(3)  Hence  it  was  that,  when  the  race  was  about  to  be 
organized  into  a  nation,  God  gave  them  a  law — a  law  which 
presupposed  the  promises  they  liad  long  possessed,  and  was 
intended  to  make  them  worthy  of  the  position  which  belonged 
to  them  already,  and  to  enable  them  to  attain  all  the  honour 
which  that  position  placed  within  their  reach. 

There  was  serious  cause  to  fear  that  the  descendants  of 
Abraham,  if  left  to  the  simple  institutions  Vv'hich  had  been 
sufficient  to  sustain  the  religious  faith  and  holiness  of  their 
fathers,  would  be  guilty  of  sins  so  enormous,  that  God  would 
be  constrained  to  punish  instead  of  blessing  them.  Their 
moral  sense  had  been  corrupted  by  their  protracted  slavery  and 


1 66  -  The  Nciu    Covenant. 

by  their  long  familiarity  with  the  vices  which  always  flourish  in 
the  shadow  of  idolatry.  Their  faith  in  the  God  of  their  fathers 
had  been  enfeebled,  and  the  effect  of  the  tremendous  manifes- 
tations of  His  power  in  connection  with  their  deliverance  from 
Egypt,  was  not  likely  to  be  lasting.  And  so  the  law  was  added 
"  because  of  transgressions."  It  was  necessary,  since  their 
whole  moral  and  religious  nature  had  been  so  injured,  that  clear 
and  definite  precepts  should  be  given  to  them  from  heaven,  and 
should  be  accompanied  by  such  external  signs  of  the  awful 
greatness  of  Jehovah  as  should  make  them  fear  to  disobey.  It 
was  also  necessary  that  the  principles  of  the  true  religion  should 
be  visibly  embodied  in  sacred  buildings,  sacred  persons,  sacred 
rites,  sacred  days ;  and  as  they  now  required  a  national  consti- 
tution, it  was  an  additional  advantage  that  they  should  receive 
that,  too,  from  heaven,  and  that  the  principles  of  the  true  faith 
should  be  interwoven  with  all  the  customs  and  appointments  of 
their  secular  and  political  life. 

Therefore,  God  gave  them  the  ten  commandments,  for- 
bidding idolatry,  blasphemy  and  irreverence;  asserting  His 
supremacy  as  the  sole  Creator  of  the  world,  and  instituting 
a  sacred  day  to  commemorate  the  completion  of  creation; 
forbidding  disobedience  and  irreverence  to  parents,  murder, 
adultery,  theft,  false  witness,  and  surrounding  with  the  Divine 
protection  the  rights  of  property  and  the  sanctities  of  the  family. 
In  addition  to  these  great  precepts  there  were  laws  punishing 
specific  crimes  against  God  and  against  men ;  there  were  regu- 
lations, some  of  Avhich  are  almost  unintelligible  to  us,  which 
were  intended,  by  the  sheer  force  of  the  Divine  authority,  to 
expel  from  the  Jewish  nation  the  vices,  the  superstitions,  and 
even  the  follies  of  surrounding  races.  Nor  was  this  all. 
Knowing  that  even  if  they  Avere  faithful  at  heart,  there  would 
be  transgressions,  not  only  of  significant  ceremonial  require- 
ments, but  of  the  moral  law  itself,— recognizing  the  necessity  of 
developing  and  confirming  the  sense  of  guilt  and  encouraging 
a  trust  in  the  Divine  mercy,  God  instituted  priesthood  and 
developed  the  system  of  sacrifice.  There  was  provision,  there- 
fore, not  only  for  the  right  ordering  of  the  life  of  the  people, 
but,  both  in  the  law  itself  and  in  the  ritual,  there  was  provision 


The   Nciv    Covenant.  167 

for  arousing  the  sense   of  sin,    and  leading  the   penitent   to 
confess  his  wrong-doing  and  to  hope  for  God's  forgiveness. 

Had  the  people  been  faithful  to  this  law,  I  do  not  mean  by 
obeying  perfectly  all  its  moral  precepts,  but  by  honestly  and 
earnestly  endeavouring  to  obey  them,  and  by  a  devout  and 
trustful  use  of  all  its  provision  for  human  imperfection,  the 
whole  history  of  the  Jewish  nation  would  have  been  different. 
There  would  have  been  no  division  into  two  hostile  kingdoms, 
no  tyranny  of  wicked  princes,  no  chastisement  inflicted  by 
heathen  nations,  no  captivity  in  Babylon.  The  Jews  would 
have  been  in  fact  what  they  were  meant  to  be,  a  ''  peculiar 
treasure"  unto  God,  though  all  the  earth  is  His  ;  "  a  kingdom 
of  priests,  a  holy  nation  :"  "  but  they  continued  not  in  my 
covenant,  and  I  disregarded  them,  saith  the  Lord." 

II. 

Wliat  security  is  there  that  any  better  fate  will  attend  God's 
last  and  great  endeavour  to  confer  blessings  on  our  race  ?  The 
present  relations  between  man  and  God  rest  ultimately  upon 
the  promises  made  to  us  through  Christ,  just  as  the  relations 
of  the  Jews  to  God  rested  on  the  promises  made  to  them 
through  Abraham.  The  Jev.^s  were  born  members  of  a  nation 
inheriting  glorious  distinctions,  and  yet  could  not  derive  any 
advantage  or  joy  from  their  position,  unless  they  were  faithful 
to  the  Divine  law ;  we  too  are  born  into  a  Divine  kingdom,  but 
without  faith  and  holiness  we  must  lose  all  the  honour  and 
blessedness  which  are  thus  put  within  our  reach.  For  the 
Jews  there  was  an  earthly  Canaan, — promised  to  them  not  on 
the  ground  of  their  obedience,  but  on  the  ground  of  their 
descent  from  Abraham  ;  and  yet,  through  their  sin,  the  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey  became  a  desert,  it  was  cursed 
with  barrenness,  it  was  destroyed  by  invading  armies,  and  at 
last  it  was  lost  altogether ;  for  us  there  is  a  Divine  and  im- 
mortal rest,  a  home  in  heaven,  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  un- 
defiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away ;  it  is  promised  to  us,  not 
because  of  our  personal  excellence,  but  because  of  the  atone- 
ment of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  unless  we  are  pure  in 


1 68  The  New  Covetiant. 

heart  we  cannot  see  God  either  here  or  hereafter ;  into  the  city 
of  God  nothing  can  enter  that  defileth. 

So  far  then  there  is  an  analogy  between  our  position  and  the 
position  of  the  Jewish  race  ;  but  here  the  analogy  ceases,  and  a 
contrast  begins.  To  us,  as  to  them,  promises  have  been  given 
which  do  not  rest  on  our  personal  holiness,  but  which  cannot 
be  fulfilled  unless  we  are  holy.  To  us,  as  to  them,  an 
honourable  position  has  been  given,  not  on  the  ground  of  our 
obedience,  but  which  cannot  be  retained  unless  we  obey. 
Where  then  is  the  contrast  between  their  case  and  ours  ?  The 
writer  states  it  with  transparent  clearness,  in  words  quoted 
from  Old  Testament  prophecy. 

To  the  Jews  God  gave  promises,  and  then  an  outward  law 
requiring  obedience ;  to  us  God  has  given  promises,  and  an 
inward  disposition  inclining  us  to  obedience.  The  privileges 
which  belonged  to  the  descendants  of  Abraham  became  their 
curse,  because  they  did  not  keep  the  law  which  was  proclaimed 
at  Sinai ;  but  the  privileges  which  belong  to  us,  who  are  one 
with  Ghrist,  become  our  everlasting  joy  and  glory,  because 
God  has  given  us  the  Holy  Ghost  to  make  us  meet  for  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

That  the  Jewish  race  might  not  lose,  through  their  sins, 
the  inheritance  bestowed  on  them  in  Abraham,  God  gave  them 
the  law  :  that  we  may  not  lose,  through  our  sins,  the  inheritance 
bestowed  on  us  in  Christ,  God  has  given  us  the  Spirit.  They 
were  not  to  obtain  the  right  to  their  peculiar  distinctions  by 
obeying  the  law ;  the  law  was  intended  to  prevent  them  losing 
what  was  theirs  without  their  obedience  :  we  are  not  to  obtain 
the  right  to  the  blessings  of  the  Christian  dispensation  by  the 
work  of  the  Spirit ;  the  Spirit  has  been  given  that  the  redemp- 
tion, which  is  God's  free  gift  to  us  through  Christ,  may  not 
be  lost. 

The  promises  to  Abraham  were  the  foundation  of  all  the 
privileges  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  the  law  was  given  that 
they  might  not  be  the  worse  instead  of  the  better  for  God's 
goodness  :  the  work  of  Christ  is  the  foundation  of  all  the 
merciful  economy  under  which  we  live,  with  its  promises  of 
present  pardon  and  everlasting  glory,  and  the  Spirit  has  been 


TJic  New  Covenant.  169 

given  that  we  may  not  be  the  worse  instead  of  the  better  for 
the  death  of  Christ  and  the  revelation  of  God's  mercy.  It  is 
not  without  significance  that  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
delayed  till  the  day  of  Pentecost,  which,  according  to  the 
belief  of  the  Jews,  commemorated  the  giving  of  the  Mosaic 
law. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  imagine  the  dark  and  gloomy 
fears  which  would  trouble  the  hearts  of  thoughtful  and  devout 
Jews  in  ancient  times,  when  they  considered  all  the  crimes 
of  which  the  Jewish  nation  had  been  guilty,  and  all  the 
miseries  with  which  those  crimes  were  punished.  Spite  of 
the  goodness  of  God  to  Abraham,  spite  of  the  promises  which 
v/ere  the  basis  of  their  national  life,  generation  after  generation 
had  turned  aside  to  the  worship  of  false  gods,  and  the  whole 
people,  instead  of  being  conspicuous  for  fidelity  to  Jehovah, 
and  conspicuous  for  the  peace,  happiness,  and  prosperity 
which  that  fidelity  would  have  secured,  had  been  conspicuous 
for  their  sins,  and  conspicuous  for  their  national  troubles. 
And  might  it  not  be  the  same  in  that  future  age  to  which 
the  hope  of  the  nation  was  continually  directed  ? 

When  the  Christ  came  for  whom  they  were  hoping,  might 
He  not  come  in  vain  ?  Might  He  not  fail,  through  human  per- 
verseness,  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  Moses  had 
failed  by  his  institutions  to  constrain  the  people  to  obey  the 
voice  of  God  ?  And  so,  as  the  promise  of  the  land  of  Canaan, 
though  fulfilled,  had  brought  the  nation  no  joy,  might  not 
the  promise  of  the  Messiah,  though  fulfilled,  fail  utterly  to 
secure  the  higher  blessings  which  were  hoped  for  from  His 
coming  ? 

The  fullest  answer  to  these  apprehensions  is  given  in  the 
I)assage  from  Jeremiah,  (quoted  in  the  verses  we  are  now  consi- 
dering. The  old  institutions,  received  through  Moses,  had  not 
been  successful  in  making  the  people  fit  for  their  exalted 
vocation ;  but  a  new  system  is  to  be  established.  Had  the  first 
'■'■  bec7i  faultless''''  no  place  would  have  been  sought  for  the 
second  :  the  announcement  of  a  new  covenant  is  the  condem- 
nation of  the  old  :  in  '^finding  fatilf''  with  the  nation,  in  rebuking 
them  for  their  grievous  sins,  and  declaring  His  intention  to 


I/O  The  Nczv  Covenant. 

resort  to  new  means  for  securing  their  obedience,  God  virtually 
pronounces  the  system  under  which  they  had  aheady  Hved  to 
be  a  failure.  "  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  7a hen  I 
will  make  a  netv  covenant  ivith  the  house  of  Israel,  and  with  the 
house  of  Judah  ;  not  according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with 
their  fathers  in  the  day  when  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead 
them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  because  they  continued  not  in  my 
eovmant,  and  I  regarded  them  not,  saith  the  Lord.  For  this  is 
the  covenant  that  I  will  jnake  with  the  house  of  Israel  after  those 
days,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and 
write  thctn  in  their  hearts :  and  I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and 
they  shall  be  to  me  a  people;  and  they  shall  not  teach  ei^ery  man 
his  neighbour,  and  every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  the 
Lord :  for  all  shall  knoiu  7ne  from  the  least  to  the  greatest.  For 
I  lidll  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness,  and  their  sitn  and 
their  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more."  And  since  God  had 
spoken  of  a  "  nezo  covenant,"  He  had  "  made  the  first  old;  and 
that  which  is  being  made  old,  and  is  getting  i?ito  old  age,  is  nigh 
mito  vanishing  away."  In  the  ancient  Scriptures  themselves, 
there  were  intimations  that  the  Mosaic  institutions  were  not  to 
last  for  ever. 

In  these  verses  the  contrast  between  the  Jewish  and  the 
Christian  dispensations  is  drawn  in  strong,  bold  lines.  It  is 
necessary,  perhaps,  to  remember  that  even  under  the  Mosaic 
covenant  the  power  of  God  purified  the  souls  of  men,  and  the 
"  true  light "  enlightened  them ;  but  external  law  was  the  great 
characteristic  of  the  system.  It  is  necessary  to  remember,  too, 
that  even  under  the  Christian  system  there  are  precepts  to  be 
obeyed  as  well  as  mysterious  spiritual  forces  to  be  yielded  to ; 
but  it  is  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man 
that  constitutes  its  supreme  distinction  and  glory. 

"  We  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost," — believe,  not  merely  that 
in  remote  centuries  and  remote  lands  He  revealed  to  prophets 
and  apostles  the  glorious  perfections  and  holy  will  of  God,  but 
that  He  abides  with  the  church  and  with  every  member  of  it, 
always  and  everywhere.  But  for  His  permanent  presence  in  all 
who  believe  in   Christ,   the  splendid   titles   bestowed   on   all 


The  New  Covenant.  lyi 

Christians  would  be  cruel  irony,  and  the  precepts  requiring 
l)erfect  conformity  to  the  image  of  Christ,  a  mockery  of  our 
weakness.  To  illustrate  in  our  own  lives  "  the  mind  that  vras 
in  Christ  Jesus,"  the  Spirit  that  God  g'ave  to  Him  "without 
measure,"  must  rest  upon  us  also.  To  be  His  brethren,  we 
must  be  "  born  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  No  Divine  sonship,  in 
the  highest  sense  of  the  term,  is  possible  to  us  unless  by  the 
Spirit  we  are  made  "  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature ; "  no 
priestly  sanctity  unless  our  souls  are  made  pure  and  white  by 
His  grace ;  no  regal  dignity  unless  we  are  ennobled  and  made 
strong  by  "  the  exceeding  greatness  of  His  power."  By  special 
acts  of  illumination  the  Spirit  established  the  church,  even  as 
God  founded  the  material  universe  by  special  acts  of  creative 
power ;  and  the  church  is  sustained  in  the  freshness  of  life,  and 
beauty,  and  glory,  by  the  permanent  and  ordinary  operations  of 
the  Spirit,  just  as  the  planets  are  kept  in  their  orbits  and  the 
stream  of  created  existence  kept  from  stagnation  by  the  con- 
stant and  ordinary  exertion  of  God's  omnipotence.  The 
church,  without  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  would  sink 
back  into  spiritual  death  and  ruin — as  the  universe,  without  the 
presence  of  God,  would  return  to  its  original  darkness  and 
chaos. 


THE   OLD   SANCTUARY. 

"  Then  verily  the  first  covenant  had  also  ordinances  of  Divine  service,  and  a 
worldly  sanctuary.  For  there  was  a  tabernacle  made  ;  the  first  wherein 
was,"  &c. — Hebrews  ix,  1-5. 

Although  in  the  course  of  this  Epistle  the  inspired  author 
iUustrates  and  explains  the  meaning  and  purpose  of  some  of 
the  most  important  of  the  institutions  of  Judaism,  it  was  not 
his  intention  to  write  a  dissertation  on  the  ancient  ritual.  He 
wrote  to  prevent  apostasy,  not  to  interpret  the  Mosaic  system. 
The  Epistle  is  an  argument,  an  appeal,  addressed  to  Jewish 
believers,  who  were  in  danger  of  falling  away  from  Christ. 
The  writer  speaks  of  the  angels,  whose  ministry  had  glorified 
the  ancient  faith,  and  of  Moses,  and  of  Melchizedek,  and  of 
the  Jewish  priesthood  and  the  Jewish  sacrifices,  only  to  exalt 
the  honour  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  the  superiority  of  the 
Christian  church  to  the  Jewish  temple. 

It  was  not  necessary,  therefore,  that  he  should  write  a  com- 
mentary on  the  book  of  Leviticus ;  it  was  sufficient  for  his 
purpose  that  he  should  select  those  institutions  and  ceremonies- 
which  had  the  strongest  hold  on  the  heart  and  the  imagination 
of  the  Jew,  and  prove  that  nothing  would  be  lost  by  surrender- 
ing them  all  for  Christ ;  that,  whatever  may  have  been  their 
value  in  former  ages,  they  had  now  become  obsolete ;  that 
Christ  had  actually  confCiTed  the  blessings  which  they  imper- 
fectly symbolised. 

Hence  it  is  that  many  of  the  most  singular  institutions  of 
the  Mosaic  law  are  not  mentioned  at  all  in  this  Epistle,  or  if 
mentioned,  mentioned  without  any  explanation.  Concerning 
the  golden  candlestick,  and  the  table  of  shewbread,  and  the 
altar  of  incense,  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and  the  cherubim 


TJie  Old  Sanctuary.  173 

of  glory,  the  writer  says  it  is  not  necessary  or  important  that  he 
should  '■'■speak  one  by  one."  His  reference  to  them  is  merely  an 
introduction  to  what  he  has  to  say  about  the  ritual  of  the  great 
(lay  of  atonement.  To  explain  what  he  has  left  unexplained, 
and  to  speak  ''  one  by  one  "  of  those  things  which  he  passed 
over,  will  be  an  interruption,  therefore,  of  the  current  of  his 
argument ;  but  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  have  a  better  oppor- 
tunity than  that  which  is  afforded  by  the  exposition  of  these 
verses,  for  offering  some  observations  on  a  very  curious  and 
interesting  subject ;  and  I  shall,  therefore,  ask  you  this 
morning  to  try  and  understand  the  use  and  meaning  of  those 
parts  of  the  tabernacle  furniture  which  are  mentioned  in  this 
passage. 

I  shall  not  occupy  your  time  with  any  description  of  the  form 
of  the  sanctuary — you  can  understand  that  far  better  from  the 
engravings  of  it  in  books  which  are  in  almost  everybody's 
hands ; — nor  shall  I  detain  you  with  any  account  of  the  various 
materials  which  entered  into  its  structure.  I  wish  to  speak  of 
the  religious  significance  of  the  sacred  things  which  are  sj^oken 
of  in  these  verses. 

The  tabernacle  was  regarded  by  the  Jewish  people  as  the 
dwelling-place  of  Jehovah.  Not  that  they  believed  that  the 
Divine  presence  was  limited  to  this  material  structure ;  they 
knew  that  if  they  ascended  into  heaven  He  was  there,  and  that 
if  they  descended  into  the  dark  regions  of  the  dead  He  was 
there.  But,  in  His  great  and  wonderful  condescension.  He  had 
commanded  them  to  construct  for  Him  a  tent,  which  was  to 
be  pitched  among  their  own  tents  in  the  wilderness ;  and  after- 
wards they  built  Him  a  temple  conspicuous  among  all  the 
buildings  of  Jerusalem  for  its  majesty  and  splendour.  The 
Sanctuary  was  to  be  honoured  as  God's  palace  and  home. 
There  His  priests  were  to  minister.  There  the  sacrifices  He 
had  commanded  were  to  be  offered.  It  was  a  visible  and 
Divinely-appointed  testimony  that  He  v/ho  inhabited  eternity, 
and  whose  tlirone  is  in  the  heavens,  was  very  near  to  the 
Jewish  i)eople — accessible  in  all  times  of  trouble  and  fear, 
and   willing   to   receive   the   adoration    and    thanksgivings   of 


1/4  ^-^^^  Old  Sanctuary. 

sinful  men.  Lofty  and  majestic  are  the  words  in  which 
Solomon,  on  the  day  that  the  temple  was  consecrated,, 
acknowledges  at  once  the  glory  and  the  condescension  of  God. 
"  The  Lord  said  that  He  would  dwell  in  the  thick  darkness. 
I  have  surely  built  Thee  a  house  to  dwell  in,  a  settled  place 
for  Thee  to  abide  in  for  ever.  .  .  .  Will  God  indeed  dwell 
on  the  earth?  Behold,  the  heaven  and  heaven  of  heavens 
cannot  contain  Thee ;  how  much  less  this  house  that  I  have 
built?  Yet  have  Thou  respect  unto  the  prayer  of  Thy 
servant,  and  to  his  supplications,  O  Lord  my  God ;  to 
hearken  to  the  cry  and  to  the  prayer  which  Thy  servant  prayeth 
before  Thee  to-day  :  that  Thine  eyes  may  be  open  toward  this 
house  night  and  day,  even  toward  the  place  of  which  Thou 
hast  said,  My  name  shall  be  there :  that  Thou  mayest 
hearken  unto  the  prayer  which  Thy  servant  shall  make  toward 
this  place.  And  hearken  Thou  to  the  supplication  of  Thy 
servant,  and  of  Thy  people  Israel,  when  they  shall  pray 
towards  this  place  ;  and  hear  Thou  in  heaven.  Thy  dwelling- 
place;  and  when  hearest,  forgive."  The  theory  of  the 
thoughtful  Jew  was  no  doubt  this — that  as  the  Omnipresent 
God  revealed  Himself  more  fully  to  His  angels  in  heaven  than 
to  all  His  creatures  besides,  so  he  revealed  Himself  more  fully 
to  those  who  worshipped  Him  in  the  tabernacle  or  temple, 
than  to  all  mankind  besides. 

And  now  let  us  examine  the  innermost  chamber  of  the 
sanctuary ;  that  into  which  only  the  High  Priest  was  ever 
permitted  to  enter,  and  he  only  once  a  year;  the  chamber 
which  is  called  the  ''  Holy  of  Holies,"  or  the  "  Holiest  of  all." 
This  was  regarded  as  the  very  home  of  God  on  earth.  The 
central  object  in  this  chamber  was  the  "  a>-k" — a  chest  of  acacia 
wood,  rather  more  than  two  feet  broad  and  high,  and  about 
three  feet  long,  covered  on  all  sides  with  plates  of  the  purest 
gold.  This  chest  was  made  to  be  the  depository  of  the  two 
tables  of  stone,  on  which  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  Jewish 
commonwealth  were  written.  For  a  thousand  years  the  ark 
was  preserved  ;  but  when  Jerusalem  was  overthrowTi  by  the 
Chaldeans,  it  perished.      There  is  a  singular  legend  contained 


TJie  Old  Sanctim}y.  175 

in  the  second  book  of  Maccabees,  to  the  effect  that  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  commanded  the  tabernacle,  and  the  altar  of  incense, 
and  the  ark,  to  follow  him  to  the  sacred  mount  whence  Moses 
beheld  the  heritage  of  God,  and,  finding  a  cave  there,  he  hid 
them,  and  closed  up  its  mouth  ;  and  those  that  went  after  him 
could  not  discover  the  cave  ;  and  Jeremiah  declared  that  they 
should  not  be  found  till  God  gathered  His  people  again 
and  received  them  into  His  mercy.  There  was  no  ark  in  the 
second  temple. 

What  thoughts  would  the  ark  be  likely  to  convey  to  the 
Jewish  people  ?  It  v/as  the  "  Ark  of  the  Covenajit ;''  it  con- 
tained those  laws  which  came  from  the  lips  of  Jehovah  Himself, 
and  were  afterwards  written  by  His  finger,  when  the  peculiar 
relationship  was  established  between  Him  and  the  Jewish 
nation.  It  reminded  them  that  they  were  His  people,  and  that 
He  was  their  God.  When  false  prophets  rose  up,  perverting 
and  corrupting  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  institutions 
which  God  had  given  to  their  fathers,  they  would  be  warned  by 
the  awful  sanctity  with  which  the  tables  of  the  law  were 
invested,  against  all  departures  from  their  early  faith.  Whatever 
mystery  might  surround  the  nature  and  attributes  of  Jehovah, 
this  they  knew,  that  He  had  once  spoken  to  the  chosen  nation, 
requiring  their  love  and  service,  forbidding  idolatry  and  crimes 
of  violence  and  lust ;  and  these  same  commandments  were  laid 
up  still  in  the  most  holy  place. 

The  law  of  God  was  the  revelation  of  His  own  character  as 
well  as  the  guide  of  human  conduct.  When  they  worshipped, 
they  worshipped  him  from  whom  the  holy  commandments 
came.  And  they  were  reminded,  too,  that  by  the  voluntary  act 
of  their  fathers,  the  Divine  law  had  been  solemnly  accepted, 
and  that  all  the  successive  generations  of  the  Jewish  race  were 
under  its  authority. 

The  laying  up  of  the  tables  in  the  ark,  and  the  placing  of  the 
ark  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  were  a  most  significant  declaration 
(i)  of  the  holiness  of  God's  character,  and  (2)  of  the  covenant 
into  which  the  Jewish  nation  had  entered,  to  be  holy  too. 

According  to  the  original  institution,  nothing  was  placed  in 


1/6  The  Old  Sanctuary. 

the  ark,  excepting  these  two  tables  of  stone,  and  there  was 
nothing  else  in  it  when  Solomon  placed  the  ark  in  the  temple. 
But  in  the  i6th  of  Exodus,  Moses  directs  Aaron  to  take  a 
'■'■pot"  of  "  ma?ina"  and  to  lay  it  up  before  the  Lord  for  after 
generations ;  and,  apart  from  this  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  it  seems  probable  that  this  command  was  interpreted 
as  requiring  that  the  pot  of  manna  should  be  placed  in  the  ark. 
And  so,  the  ^'rod"  of  Aaron,  which  miraculously  budded, 
blossomed,  and  brought  forth  fruit,  in  vindication  of  the 
priesthood  of  his  house,  was  ordered  to  be  laid  up  before  the 
testimony  (Numb,  xvii.,  lo),  to  be  kept  for  a  token  against 
those  who  had  resisted  his  appointment ;  and  this  too  was 
afterwards  understood  as  requiring  that  the  rod  should  be 
placed  in  the  ark  itself.  You  remember  the  story  of  this 
rod.  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  had  dared  to  contest  the 
authority  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  their  sin  had  been  punished 
by  earthquake  and  fire.  The  people,  who  seem  to  have  shared 
the  discontent,  and  to  have  encouraged  the  presumption  of  the 
men  who  had  ventured  to  impugn  the  Divinely-appointed 
priesthood,  murmured  at  their  punishment,  and  more  than  four- 
teen thousand  perished  by  the  plague.  To  set  the  question  for 
ever  at  rest,  the  princes  of  the  several  tribes  of  Israel  were 
required  to  bring  their  rods — the  symbols  of  their  authority — - 
and  to  lay  them  before  the  ark  of  God :  he  whose  rod  blossomed 
was  to  be  the  object  of  God's  choice  for  priestly  service;  and  in 
the  morning,  the  rod  of  Levi  on  which  Aaron's  name  was  -wTitten, 
was  found  to  have  become  miraculously  fruitful.* 

As  the  tables  of  the  law  were  a  perpetual  testimony  to  the 
holiness  of  Jehovah,  and  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the  obligations 
assumed  by  the  Jewish  race  at  Sinai,  the  rod  of  Aaron,  whether 

*  "The  section  of  the  Levites,  whose  position  brought  them  into  contact 
with  tlie  tribe  of  Reuben,  conspired  with  it  to  re-assert  the  old  patriarchal  system 
of  a  household  priesthood.  The  leader  of  that  revolt  may  have  been  impelled 
by  a  desire  to  gain  the  same  height  as  that  which  Aaron  had  attained  ;  but  the 
ostensible  pretext,  that  the  'whole  congregation  were  holy'  (Numbers  xvi,  3)  was 
one  which  would  have  cut  away  all  the  distinctive  privileges  of  the  tribe  of  which 
he  was  a  member."  (Plumptre  in  Smitlis  Dictionary  of  the  Bible.)  Korah 
and  his  companions  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  were  enraged  at  the  limitation  of  the 
higher  functions  of  the  priesthood  to  the  family  of  Aaron,  and  were  ready  in 
their  revenge  to  imperil  the  sacredness  of  the  whole  tribe. 


TJie  Old  Sanctitary.  lyy 

placed  before  the  ark,  according  to  what  seems  to  liave  been  tlie 
original  intention  of  the  Mosaic  precept,  or  within  it,  was  a 
most  significant  declaration  of  the  peril  of  api)roaching  God 
M'ilfully  and  presumptuously  in  any  other  way  than  that  which 
He  had  instituted.  It  was  also  a  declaration  of  the  certainty 
of  God's  accepting  the  ministrations  of  the  priests  whom  He 
himself  had  chosen. 

Equally  obvious,  I  think,  was  the  meaning  of  the  pot  of 
manna.  It  was  a  perpetual  testimony  to  the  people  of  Israel  of 
the  infinite  resources  and  ceaseless  vigilance  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence. "When  times  of  famine  came,  prayer  for  food  would  be 
offered  with  stronger  confidence,  when  it  was  remembered  that 
tlie  manna  was  in  the  Most  Holy  Place,  and  had  been  laid  up 
there  by  God's  own  command.  He  was  not  so  great  as  to  be 
indifferent  to  the  physical  wants  of  His  creatures — He  was  not 
so  powerless  as  to  be  unable  to  help  them  if  the  drought  or  the 
blight  destroyed  their  harvest.  In  ancient  times  He  had  re- 
membered the  hunger  of  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness,  and  the 
windows  of  heaven  had  been  opened  to  supply  them  with  bread. 

Over  the  ark  wms  a  plate  of  solid  gold,  called  in  our  En<^- 
lish  Bible  the  ''■mercy-seat"  and  at  the  two  extremities  of  this 
golden  plate  were  '■'the  cherubim^'  their  faces  turned  towards  each 
other,  but  bending  downwards  as  in  the  act  of  adoration.  This 
was  tlie  most  mysterious  and  awful  and  glorious  part  of  the  Holy 
of  Holies  itself.  "There  I  will  meet  with  thee,"  said  God  to 
Moses,  "and  I  will  commune  with  thee  from  above  the  mercy- 
seat,  from  between  the  two  cherubim  which  are  upon  the  ark  of 
the  testimony."  Ex.  xxv,  22.  And  it  is  said  in  Numbers  vii,  89, 
"that  Moses  heard  the  voice  of  one  speaking  to  him  from  off"  the 
mercy-seat,  that  was  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  from  between 
the  two  cherubim."  In  the  80th  Psalm  it  is  written,  "Thou  that 
dwellest  between  the  cherubim,  shine  forth;"  and  in  the  99th, 
"The  Lord  reigneth;  let  the  people  tremble;  He  sitteth  between 
the  cherubims  ;  let  the  earth  be  moved." 

It  is  remarkable  that  no  description  is  contained  in  the 
Books  of  Moses  of  these  wonderful  figures  that  were  bowing 
before  God  day  and  night  in  a  ceaseless  act  of  adoration;  and 
the    descriptions    of  the    cherubim   in   other    parts   of  Holy 

N 


1^8  The  Old  Sanctuary. 

Scripture  vary  considerably.  This,  however,  seems  certain,  that 
they  were  symboUc  forms,  in  which  were  combined,  the  highest 
kinds  of  created  Ufe  known  to  us.  The  ox,  which  was  the 
symbol  of  strength  and  labour, — the  eagle,  which  was  the 
symbol  of  the  loftiest  freedom  and  the  utmost  rapidity  of  motion, 
" — the  lion,  which  was  the  symbol  of  regal  majesty, — were 
united  with  the  human  form,  the  symbol  of  the  highest  and 
noblest  kind  of  life,  of  intelligence,  and  moral  freedom.  In  the 
reverential  homage  of  the  cherubim,  the  whole  creation  is  re- 
presented as  bowing  before  God.  "All  His  works  praise  Him." 
He  is  compassed  about  with  perpetual  and  everlasting  worship. 
All  strength,  all  majesty,  all  wisdom,  confess  that  He  is  God 
over  all,  blessed  for  evermore. 

But  while  the  Jew  was  reminded  by  the  presence  of  these 
symbolic  figures  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  of  God's  everlasting 
glory,  he  was  reminded  by  the  golden  covering  of  the  ark,  that 
even  sinful  men  might  venture  to  adore  Him.  It  is  very  gene- 
rally acknowledged  that  the  word  "mercy-seat,"  as  applied  to 
this  plate  of  gold,  is  likely  to  lead  to  misconception.  It  suggests 
the  idea,  that  it  was  regarded  as  the  throne  of  Jehovah.  But 
there  is  nothing  either  in  the  word  itself  or  in  any  of  the  allusions 
to  the  thing  in  Holy  Scripture,  to  justify  this.  There  is  a  sublime 
and  reverential  indefiniteness  in  all  that  is  said  concerning  the 
presence  of  Jehovah  in  the  Holy  Place.  He  dwelt  between 
the  cherubim  :  their  visible  homage  and  the  cloud  of  glory 
testified  that  He  was  there :  but  no  material  thing  is  spoken  of 
as  the  seat  of  His  throne.  "WTiat  we  call  the  "mercy  seat"  was 
the  golden  covering  of  the  ark,  on  which  year  by  year  the  blood 
was  sprinkled  that  the  sins  of  the  nation  might  be  atoned  for. 
The  name  applied  to  it  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  includes  two 
ideas.  The  root  from  which  it  is  derived  permits  us  to  regard 
it  as  suggesting  its  twofold  purpose — as  shutting  in  the  contents 
of  the  sacred  chest,  and  as  receiving  year  by  year  the  blood  of 
atonement;  and  the  LXX  translators  have,  I  think,  most  happily 
represented  the  Hebrew  word  by  two  Greek  words,  meaning 
^^  a  propitiatory  covering." 

And  was  there  not  a  fitness  in  the  blood  of  atonement 
being  sprinkled  on  the  covering  of  the  ark?    The  ark  contained 


TJie  Old  Sanctuary.  179 

the  ten  commandments,  which  the  penitent  Jew  felt  that  he  had 
broken; — those  commandments  represented  all  the  precepts 
which  God  required  him  to  obey,  and  many  of  which  he  knew 
he  had  transgressed.  Indeed,  the  whole  of  the  Book  of  the 
Law  was  in  later  times  placed  there.  When  he  cried  to  the 
God  who  dwelt  between  the  cherubim,  the  presence  of  the  law, 
which  was  holy,  just,  and  good,  in  the  ark  beneath,  reminded 
him  of  his  guilt;  it  was  an  awful  testimony  against  him;  it  might 
well  have  driven  him  to  despair;  but  on  the  very  covering  of  the 
ark  was  sprinkled  year  by  year  the  atoning  blood;  and  although 
his  conscience  forbade  him  to  think  that  the  sufferings  and  death 
of  a  bullock  or  a  goat  could  really  expiate  his  sin,  he  knew  that 
God  would  not  have  instituted  the  ritual  if  he  had  not  intended 
to  forgive. 

You  will  have  noticed  the  peculiarity  of  the  expression  at 
the  commencement  of  the  fourth  verse;  '■'■  ivhich" — that  is,  the 
Holiest  of  all,  "had  the  golden  censer^''  or  rather  ^'' the  golden  altar 
of  incense."  Of  the  Holy  Place  it  is  said,  in  the  second  verse, 
"wherein  was  the  candlestick  and  the  table,  dr'c."  The  change  of 
expression  is  significant.  The  writer  does  not  mean  to  say  that 
the  altar  of  incense  was  within  the  Holy  of  Holies,  but  that 
the  altar  of  incense  belonged  to  it.  That  altar  actually  stood  in 
the  Holy  Place,  but  more  truly  belonged  to  the  Holy  of  Holies 
itself.  It  is  very  wonderful  that  any  man  who  had  read  this 
Kpistle  intelligently,  could  imagine  for  a  moment,  that  it  was 
jjossible  for  the  writer  to  have  been  so  ill-informed  as  to  have 
believed  that  the  altar  was  actually  within  the  most  sacred  in- 
closure.  Apart  altogether  from  inspiration,  the  intimate  and 
])rofound  knowledge  of  the  Jewish  system  which  the  whole  of 
the  Epistle  indicates,  renders  it  absurd  to  suppose  that  on  such 
a  simple  matter  as  the  position  of  the  altar  of  incense,  the 
^\Titer  could  have  blundered.  It  would  to  my  mind  be  just  as 
reasonable  to  infer  from  some  peculiarity  of  expression  in  Lord 
Macaulay,  that  the  great  historian  had  erroneously  imagined 
that  the  Spanish  Amiada  came  against  this  country  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  I.,  or  to  infer  on  similar  grounds  that  Dr.  Livingstone 
was  under  the  impression  that  the  island  of  Madagascar  formed 
part  of  the  African  continent. 


i8o  TJic  Old  Sanctuary. 

This  altar,  made  of  acacia  wood  and  overlaid  with  gold, 
Avas  not  used  for  ordinary  sacrifices,  but  was  a  stand  for  the 
vessel  in  which  the  sacred  frankincense  was  burnt.  Its  position 
which,  according  to  the  directions  in  Exodus,  was  to  be  before 
the  ark  of  the  testimony,  though  not  in  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
was  an  indication  of  its  peculiar  sanctity;  and  on  the  great  day 
of  atonement  this  was  the  only  thing,  not  contained  in  the  in- 
nermost sanctuary,  which  was  sprinkled  with  the  atoning  blood. 
The  offering  of  incense  is  a  natural  symbol  of  adoration;  and 
it  is  plain  that  it  was  so  regarded  by  the  Jewish  people.  "Let 
my  prayer"  said  the  Psalmist,  "be  set  before  Thee  as  incense;" 
and  in  the  vision  of  Isaiah,  when  the  seraphim  had  cried  "Holy, 
holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  the  whole  earth  is  full  of 
his  glory,"  the  temple  was  immediately  filled  with  clouds  of 
incense.  Morning  and  evening  the  vessel  on  the  golden  altar 
was  to  be  lighted  ■with  live  coals  taken  from  the  altar  of  burnt 
offering. 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  these  provisions  of  the  Jewish 
ritual  plainly  taught.  There  was  not  only  atonement  for  sin 
and  the  possibility  of  forgiveness,  as  exhibited  in  the  great 
annual  sacrifices;  but  day  by  day  the  burnt  offering  symbolically 
represented  the  duty  and  the  possibility  of  consecrating  body, 
soul,  and  spirit  to  God.  And  even  this  was  not  all.  The  guilty 
might  tremble  to  approach  the  holy  God  with  songs,  of  praise 
and  words  of  adoration;  they  might  fear  that  this  would  be  pre- 
sumption, which  He  would  resent  and  punish.  The  holy  angels 
behold  His  face  and  may  worship  Him  day  and  night  with- 
out ceasing,  but  for  sinful  men  to  aspire  to  this  supreme  privilege 
and  blessedness  might  seem  an  offence  against  the  divine  purity. 
But  no;  he  who  has  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  burnt  offering 
may  venture  without  fear  to  speak  to  God  of  His  high  perfec- 
tions and  to  offer  adoration.  Obedience  may  be  followed  by 
worship.  Self-consecration  will  kindle  in  the  soul  reverence, 
and  awe,  and  wonder,  and  gratitude,  and  joy;  and  God  will  not 
refuse  the  homage. 

"  TJie  table  and  the  shewbread"  were  also  in  the  Holy  Place. 
This  table,  like  the  altar  of  incense,  was  made  of  acacia  wood 
and  overlaid  with  gold.     Every  Sabbath  day  twelve  unleavened 


TJie  Old  Sanctuary.  i8l 

loaves  were  placed  upon  it, — one  for  every  tribe, — and  the 
loaves  were  sprinkled  over  with  frankincense.  Although 
nothing  is  said  about  wine,  the  vessels  which  had  to  be  made 
for  the  table  seem  to  prove  that  wine  was  placed  with  the 
bread.  All  the  vessels  were  of  gold.  The  idea  symbolised  by 
this  singular  appointment  is  indicated,  I  think,  in  Leviticus, 
where  it  is  said  that  the  shewbread,  or  "  the  bread  of  the 
presence,"  was  an  offering  from  the  children  of  Israel.  Wine 
and  bread  represent  the  t\vo  principal  articles  of  human  food. 
They  stand  for  all  the  things  which  support  the  life  of  man. 
They  represent  that  which  all  men,  rich  and  poor,  must  have, 
if  they  are  to  live  at  all.  And  the  covering  of  the  table,  week 
by  week,  with  bread  and  wine,  seems  to  me  a  natural  form  of 
acknowledging  God  as  the  Author  and  Giver  of  all  common 
blessings.  As  the  manna  in  the  ark  was  a  continual  testimony 
in  God's  name  to  the  power  and  goodness  of  the  Divine 
providence,  the  bread  and  the  wine  on  the  table  in  the  Holy 
Place  was  a  continual  recognition  of  that  providence  on  the 
l)art  of  man.  "  All  things  come  of  thee."  "  Thou  openest 
thine  hand  and  satisfiest  the  wants  of  every  living  thing." 
"  Thou  givest  corn  and  Avine."  And  in  the  acknowledgment 
that  God  gives  the  means  of  life,  there  is  an  implied  acknov/- 
ledgment  that  life  itself  should  be  devoted  to  Him. 

Only  the  '■'■  goldeti  candlestick''''  now  remains  for  notice.  One 
or  two  passages  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are 
commonly  quoted,  as  illustrating  its  meaning  and  purpose ;  but 
I  confess  that  these  passages  do  not  appear  to  me  very 
pertinent.  We  are  thrown,  I  think,  on  our  own  conception  of 
what  would  be  the  natural  impression  produced  by  it  on  the 
minds  of  devout  Jews.  In  later  times  it  was  the  custom  to 
keep  the  lights  burning  all  day  as  well  as  all  night ;  but  the 
original  law  required  that  they  should  be  lit  in  the  evening  and 
dressed  in  the  morning.  And  you  will  remember  that  Samuel 
heard  the  voice  of  God  before  the  lamp  of  God  went  out  in 
the  temple,  implying  that  it  was  not  kept  continually  burning. 
I  believe  that  the  later  custom  helped  to  conceal  the  natural 
meaning  of  the  appointment. 

If  the  priests  had  had  any  duties  to  discharge  at  night  in  the 


1 82  TJic  Old  Sanctuary. 

Holy  Place,  I  should  have  felt  no  necessity  to  make  any 
inquiry  at  all  about  the  significance  of  the  seven  lights ; 
the  impossibility  of  performing  the  sacred  functions  in  total 
darkness  would  have  been  an  adequate  explanation.  But  there 
was  no  midnight  ritual :  why  then,  when  the  curtain,  which 
was  thrown  aside  during  the  day  to  admit  the  light  of  heaven, 
was  closed  for  the  night,  was  not  the  holy  place  left  in 
darkness  ?  There  seems  to  me  to  be  a  perfectly  obvious  and 
natural  answer.  The  Holy  Place  was  in  the  thoughts  of  every 
devout  Jew  when  he  longed  for  the  mercy  of  God  to  forgive  his 
sin,  or  cried  to  Him  for  consolation  in  time  of  trouble.  It  was 
there  that,  day  by  day,  the  priests  offered  the  incense,  which 
was  the  visible  symbol  of  all  supplication  and  worship.  That 
was  the  chamber  in  which  the  Lord  received  the  prayers  and 
homage  of  the  nation,  as  the  Most  Holy  Place  was  His  secret 
shrine.  And  would  not  the  lamps  that  burnt  there  during  the 
darkness,  and  filled  it  with  light,  seem  to  say  to  every  troubled 
soul,  that  God  never  slumbered  nor  slept ;  that  the  darkness 
and  the  light  are  both  alike  to  Him,  and  that  at  all  times  He  is 
v/aiting  to  listen  to  the  prayers  of  His  people  ?  It  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  this  explanation,  that  the  seven  lights  of  the 
ancient  candlestick,  no  longer  united,  however,  in  one  stem,  are 
used  in  the  Apocalyj)se  to  represent  the  churches.  Christ 
"  walkdh  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks  3"  in  a 
Avorld  that  has  forgotten  God,  and  forgotten  Him  so  long  that 
it  might  well  despair  of  ever  being  able  to  conciliate  His 
favour,  and  believe  that  He  had  forsaken  for  ever  the  race 
which  had  so  ungratefully  and  presumptuously  sinned  against 
Him,  the  Churches  of  Christ  bear  a  continual  testimony  to 
His  presence  and  gracious  activity. 

It  can  hardly  be  expected  that  we  should  be  able  to  under- 
stand perfectly  all  the  institutions  of  Judaism.  They  answered 
their  purpose  in  sustaining  the  religious  life  of  a  long  line  of 
holy  men,  and  introducing  into  the  thought  and  literature  of 
the  chosen  race  elements  of  Divine  truth,  without  which  the 
revelation  of  God  in  Christ  would  have  been  hardly  intelli- 
gible :  but  they  have  passed  away ;  their  aspect  has  become 


Tlic  Old  Sanctuary.  183 

strange  and  unfomiliar ;  and  it  requires  a  vigorous  intellectual 
effort  to  place  ourselves  in  the  position  of  the  [leople  to  whom 
they  were  given.  But  it  is  of  some  importance  that  we  should 
understand  them  sufficiently,  to  be  able  to  show  that  the  Jewish 
ritual  was  not  an  unmeaning  and  superstitious  pageant. 
Contempt  for  Moses  is  inconsistent  with  a  true  reverence  for 
Christ. 

And,  however  foreign  to  our  own  intellectual  habits  may  be 
the  sacrifices,  and  altars,  and  incense,  and  priests  of  the  Jewish 
foith,  a  knowledge  of  the  transcendent  excellence  and  power 
of  the  religious  belief  of  the  Jews,  when  compared  with  that  of 
any  other  ancient  people,  will  suggest  caution  and  hesitation  in 
challenging  the  religious  institutions  by  which  that  belief  was 
developed  and  sustained.     Judge  the  system  by  its  results,  and 
it  will  demand   respect.     Even  if  it  were   granted  that  there 
were  dreary  times  in  Jewish  history,  when   the  mass  of  the 
people  were  as  superstitious  and  as  immoral  as  the  common 
people  of  Assyria,  or  of  Persia,  or  of  Greece,  or  of  Rome,  it 
liiight  still  be  asked,  Where,    among  the  greatest  nations  of 
antiquity,  can  there  be  shov/n  a  long  line  of  men  like  that  to 
which  the  Jews  can  point,— maintaining  with  faultless  unanimity 
and  unwavering  faith,  the  unity  of  God  and  the  perfection  of 
His    moral    attributes,— investing    moral    laws    with    divine 
authority,— penetrated  with  a  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin  and  the 
exceeding  beauty  of  holiness  ?     Where  else  can  there  be  shown 
a  succession  of  men  who,  through  age  after  age,  through  sixteen 
centuries  of  glory  and  of  suftering,  proclaimed  a  theology  so 
noble,  a  morahty    so    pure;    and   endeavoured,    by    national 
institutions,  religious  ceremonies,  sublime  and  pathetic  eloquence, 
and  immortal  songs,  to  exalt  and  purify  the  moral  and  religious 
life  of  their  country  ?     However  unintelligible  llie  Mosaic  ritual 
may  seem  to  one  who  has  not  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the 
people  for  whom  it  was  constructed  and  the  times  to  which  it 
belongs— this  at  least  will  be  confessed,  that  it  was  the  centre 
and  inspiration  of  the  grandest  and  purest  religious  thought  of 
the  ancient  world. 

But  again,   I  say,  the  institutions  of  Judaism  have  passed 
away.     The  fulness  of  time  has  come.     Inarticulate  symbols 


184  TJie  Old  Sanctuary, 

have  given  place  to  the  Divine  Word  manifest  in  the  flesh.  We 
need  no  earthly  tabernacle  to  assure  us  of  the  condescending 
interest  of  the  Most  High  in  the  conflicts,  and  joys,  and  troubles, 
which  make  up  the  life  of  man  :  God  himself  has  become  such 
an  one  as  ourselves  ;  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood ;  tempted  in 
all  points  as  we  are,  though  without  sin.  We  need  no  golden 
candlestick  to  fill  with  rich  and  tranquil  light  the  darkness  of  a 
Holy  place,  and  to  remind  us  that  the  Eternal  God  is  ever  ready 
to  listen  to  the  sighing  of  the  contrite  and  the  prayer  of  the 
needy ;  for  Christ  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us,  and 
we  know  that  He  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary.  We  need  no 
table  with  its  loaves  and  wine  to  remind  us  that  all  our  earthly 
possessions  should  be  consecrated  to  God,  and  that  our  life 
itself  belongs  to  Him  :  we  have  another  table  which  tells  what 
God  has  done  for  us,  and  looking  upon  its  pathetic  symbols  we 
exclaim,  "We  are  not  our  own,  we  are  bought  with  a  price  ;" 
we  "  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  "  whether 
we  live  we  must  live  unto  the  Lord,  or  whether  we  die  we  must 
die  unto  the  Lord."  No  golden  altar  of  incense  is  needed  to 
assure  us  that  the  worship  and  the  petitions  of  sinful  men  are 
acceptable  to  God  :  we  have  heard  it  from  the  lips  of  the  Son 
that  "whatsoever  we  ask  in  His  name"  shall  be  given,  and 
that  "the  Father  himself  loveth  us;  "  we  have  received  "power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God,"  and  "  the  spirit  of  adoption  "  is 
ours.  We  need  no  cherubim  to  tell  us  of  God's  majesty,  and  to 
testify  that  all  created  things  reveal  His  wisdom,  power,  and 
goodness  :  we  have  seen  Him  ourselves,  and  the  splendour  of 
the  heavens  has  become  pale, — sun,  moon,  and  stars  have  lost 
their  light  in  the  presence  of  the  glory  of  God  as  revealed  in  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ.  No  miraculous  manna  need  be  preserved 
as  a  memorial  for  all  generations  of  the  bounty  of  divine 
Providence  :  we  know  that  God  has  given  us  Christ,  and  that 
"  with  Him  He  will  freely  give  us  all  things."  No  ark  of  the 
covenant  is  necessary  to  remind  us  that  between  us  and  God 
lasting  relations  have  been  established,  of  mercy  on  His  part, 
and  duty  on  ours  :  in  Christ,  God  and  Man  are  for  ever 
one.  Wonderful  indeed  was  the  divine  compassion  which 
covered   the    tables    of    the    law,    requiring    a   perfection    of 


The  Old  Sanctuary.  185 

which  man  always  failed,  with  the  most  sacred  symbol  of 
mercy, — uniting  the  precepts  which  uttered  rebuke  while 
they  gave  guidance,  with  the  atonement  which  justified 
the  hope  of  pardon;  but  for  us  tables  of  stone  and  pro- 
pitiatory covering  are  alike  unnecessary  :  Christ  in  His 
stainless  purity,  Christ  in  His  unfaltering  obedience  to  God, 
Christ  in  His  love  for  man,  Christ  is  our  law ;  and  when  our 
heart  sinks  and  faints  as  we  contemplate  His  bright  perfections, 
when  we  are  ready  to  cry  out  in  despair  that  the  tables  of  stone 
and  the  thunders  of  Sinai  could  not  so  appal  the  heart  of  the 
guilty  as  the  vision  of  His  living  holiness,  that  no  human  words, 
though  written  by  the  finger  of  God,  could  require  or  describe  a 
devotion  or  a  purity  comparable  to  His, — we  discover  with 
amazement  and  joy,  that  by  the  very  perfection  which  dismays 
us,  He  is  atoning  for  all  our  transgressions,  and  that  the  sub- 
lime culmination  of  His  love  and  obedience  in  His  agony  and 
death,  accomplishes  for  man  a  complete  and  everlasting 
redemption.  In  Him  the  highest  revelation  of  law  is  associated, 
not  with  the  symbol,  but  with  the  reality  of  atonement.  The 
shadows  of  heavenly  things  have  disappeared  ;  the  first  covenant, 
with  its  ordinances  of  divine  service,  and  its  worldly  sanctuary, 
have  become  old  and  vanished  away ;  "  the  law  came  by  Moses, 
but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ." 


JEWISH  SACRIFICES. 

''  Now,  when  these  things  were  thus  ordained,  the  priests  went  always 
into  the  first  tabernacle,  accomplishing  the  senice  of  God,  "  Sec. — 
Hebrews  ix,   6-9. 

As  I  said  last  Sunday  morning,  the  first  five  verses  of  this 
chapter, — in  which  the  writer  speaks  of  the  Holy  Place,  with 
its  golden  lamp  and  table  of  shewbread,  and  the  Holiest  of  all, 
with  its  altar  of  incense  and  its  ark,  and  the  tables  of  the 
covenant,  and  Aaron's  rod  and  the  adoring  cherubim, — are 
introductory  to  the  exposition,  extending  through  the  verses  of 
this  chapter  to  the  middle  of  the  tenth,  of  the  contrast  between 
the  Jewish  sacrifices  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
It  will  assist  us  in  understanding  the  course  of  this  argument  if 
we  are  able  to  place  distinctly  before  us  the  original  character 
and  significance  of  the  expiatory  offerings  of  the  ancient  law  ; 
their  character  and  significance,  I  mean,  as  apprehended  by 
religious  and  thoughtful  men  before  the  time  of  Christ.  It  is  an 
inversion  of  the  true  order  of  the  investigation,  to  begin  by 
filling  the  mind  with  all  the  truths  revealed  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  developed  by  the  speculations  and  controversies 
of  a  long  succession  of  uninspired  theologians,  concerning  the 
atonement  of  Christ,  and  then  to  examine  the  Jewish  ritual  to 
discover  symbolic  anticipations  of  the  doctrine. 

If  it  be  objected  that  wuhout  the  clear  light  of  the  Christian 
dispensation,  the  ancient  ceremonial  is  unmeaning,  this  is  to 
impeach  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God,  by  whose  authority 
it  was  sustained  for  sixteen  hundred  years  ;  and  the  objection  is 
based  on  forgetfulness  of  the  fact,  that  elementary  teaching, 
though  less  extensive  in  its  range,  ought  plainly  to  be  more 
easily  intelligible  than  subsequent  and  higher  revelations.     The 


Jewish  Sacrifices.  187 

Jewish  system  was  a  discipline  and  preparation  for  the  Christian  ; 
exhibiting  the  same  principles  by  simpler  methods  ;  taking  less 
for  granted  ;  addressing  men  who  knew  little,  and  needed  to  be 
taught  as  we  teach  children,  by  diagrams  and  models,  in  which 
the''  highest    truths    and    laws    are   illustrated    in   their   most 
elementary  forms.     The  natural  order  of  the  investigation  is  to 
attempt  to  discover,  first,  what  impressions  were  produced,  what 
instruction  was  conveyed,  by  Jewish  institutions  in  Jewish  times ; 
then  to  consider  how  the  Christian  revelation  has  exalted  and 
perfected  the  Jewish.     The  system  of  Moses  did  not  presuppose 
the  knowledge  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  of  the  apostles  ; 
their  teaching  presupposed  a  knowledge  of  the  teaching  of  Moses. 
It  is  not  necessary,  nor  would  it  be   possible  in  a  single 
sermon,  to  give  a  complete  account  of  the  innumerable  offerings 
instituted  or  regulated  by  the  Levitical  law.     The  writer  of  this 
Epistle  is  thinking  principally,  if  not  exclusively,  of  one  class  of 
sacrifices  ;  sacrifices  in  which  the  idea  of  atonement  for  sin  was 
so  conspicuous  as  to  give  them  their  distinguishing  name.     In 
the  burnt-oftering  the  idea  of  atonement  was  subordinate  to  the 
idea  of  the  complete  surrender  and  devotion  of  the  soul  to  God : 
in  the  peace-offering,  the  idea  of  atonement  was  subordinate  to 
the  idea  of  joyful  thanksgiving  and  happy  fellowship  with  God  : 
in  the  sin-offering  the  idea  of  atonement  was  supreme. 

I  do  not  propose  to  illustrate  the  details  of  the  ritual  con- 
nected with  sacrifices  of  this  class,  but  to  consider  the  relation, 
as  it  would  appear  to  a  Jew,  between  sin-off"erings  and  moral 
transgression. 

It  is  a  common  impression  that  whenever  a  Jew  had 
committed  an  ordinary  moral  off"ence  against  the  Divine  law,  he 
had  only  to  bring  the  appointed  sacrifice  and  offer  it  with  tlie 
appointed  ceremonies  in  order  to  obtain  the  Divine  forgiveness. 
The  passage  in  the  fifty-first  Psalm,  in  which  David  exclaims, 
"  Thou  desirest  not  sacrifice,  else  would  I  give  it,"  is  popularly 
interpreted  as  meaning,  that  for  the  crimes  of  which  David  had 
been  guilty  no  sin-off'erings  could  be  accepted,  though  for  less 
serious  transgressions  atonement  could  easily  be  made.  But 
since  the  conscience  vehemently  protests  against  the  morality  of 


1 88  Jeivish  Sacrifices. 

a  system  which  is  supposed  to  provide  for  the  canceUing  of  sin 
on  the  condition  of  offering  an  animal  sacrifice,  many  persons 
beheve  that  in  addition  to  the  sin-ofifering,  it  was  necessary  that 
the  guilty  man  should  be  truly  penitent ;  some  go  further  still, 
and  believe  that  forgiveness  was  not  to  be  obtained  unless  the 
faith  of  the  penitent  associated  his  sacrifice  with  the  atonement 
afterwards  to  be  accomplished  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Such  persons  must  be  greatly  surprised,  that  although  page  after 
page  in  the  books  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuter- 
onomy is  filled  with  ceremonial  directions,  there  is  not  a  word 
to  remind  the  man  who  has  brought  his  sin-offering  to  the  priest, 
that  the  atoning  efficacy  of  the  sacrifice  will  depend  either  upon 
his  penitence  or  his  faith:  an  examination  of  the  law  will 
remove  these  dififtculties  and  correct  the  common  errors  Avhich 
involve  the  whole  subject  in  obscurity  and  confusion. 

Sin-offerings  formed  a  part  of  the  appointed  ritual  on  certain 
great  religious  days,  when  they  were  offered  on  behalf  of  the 
Avhole  nation,  and  could  not  possibly  be  supposed  to  secure  by 
themselves  the  actual  pardon  of  sin.  They  were  also  offered  in 
certain  special  and  occasional  circumstances,  on  behalf  of 
individuals  or  on  behalf  of  the  whole  people,  and  then  it  is 
distinctly  declared  that  on  their  being  offered,  the  particular 
offences  for  which  they  were  to  atone  should  be  forgiven.  I 
shall  speak  of  the  second  class  first. 


I. 

There  were,  I  say,  certain  transgressions  of  the  Divine  law 
which  were  not  only  to  be  atoned  for  by  the  sin-offering,  but 
which  were  actually  to  be  forgiven  when  the  offering  had  been 
presented  and  slain,  and  the  altar  sprinkled  with  its  blood. 

(i)  If  the  High  Priest  or  the  head  of  any  of  the  tribes 
violated,  through  ignorance,  any  of  the  ritualistic  or  ceremonial 
precepts,  when  he  discovered  his  fault,  he  was  to  bring  a 
bullock  for  a  sin-offering,  and  the  offence  was  to  be  blotted  out. 
If  the  whole  congregation  committed  a  similar  offence,  the  same 
sacrifice  made  atonement  and  secured  pardon.     If  any  of  the 


Jcivish  Sacrifices.  189 

common  people  committed  a  similar  oftence,  a  goat  or  a  lamb 
effected  the  same  results. 

There  was  also  the  special  case  of  a  man  having  in  certam 
specified  circumstances  unconsciously  or  involuntarily  incurred 
ceremonial  defilement.  This  was  likely  to  happen  so  frequently 
that  a  lighter  atonement  was  accepted ;  a  lamb  or  a  kid,  or,  if 
the  man  was  poor,  two  turtle  doves  or  two  young  pigeons,  or 
even  a  small  quantity  of  fine  flour,  efi'ected  atonement,  and  also 
obtained  forgiveness.  In  all  these  cases  there  was  no  moral 
element  at  all,  for  there  was  no  voluntary  transgression.  In  all 
these  cases,  too,  it  was  the  ceremonial  law  that  had  been 
violated.  No  moral  gilt  had  been  incurred,  and  it  was 
reasonable  and  just  that  the  unintentional  ceremonial  failure 
should  be  cancelled  when  the  ceremonial  compensation  had 
been  presented. 

(2)  Again,  if  a  man  had  knowingly  failed  to  bear  testimony 
in  a  court  of  law  against  men  whom  he  knew  to  be  justly 
accused  of  a  crime,  he  was  required  to  confess  his  sin  and  to 
bring  a  lamb  or  a  kid  for  a  sin-ofi"ering,  or  if  he  was  poor,  two 
turtle  doves,  or  two  young  pigeons,  or  a  small  quantity  of  fine 
flour  ;  and  then  his  sin  was  to  be  forgiven.     The  moral  element 
in  this  case  would  generally  be  very  slight  and  insignificant. 
Desirable   as   it   is   that   all   who   know   anything  that  would 
inculpate  a  guilty  man  should  bear  their  testimony  at  his  trial, 
I  suppose  that  there  are  many  circumstances  which  most  of  us 
would  regard  as  morally  releasing  us  from  the  obligation  to 
volunteer  adverse  evidence  ;  and  many  suppose  that  it  was  for 
the  neglect  of  this,  that  the  off'ering  was  to  make  atonement 
and  obtain  pardon.     But  even  if  the  law  refers  to  the  case  of 
one  who  has  actually  been  a  witness  in  court,  but  has  been 
silent  on  what  would  have  demonstrated  the  guilt  of  the  accused, 
the  silence  would  commonly  be  occasioned  by  natural  aff"ection, 
by   friendship,  by  generous   compassion  for   the   guilty ;    and, 
though  a  sin  against  the  State,  would,  when  morally  considered, 
be  a  very  slight  off"ence ;  the  telling  half  the  truth  when  a  man 
had  promised  to  tell  all,  e^iuivocation,  falsehood,  perjury,  could 
not  be  cancelled  by  the  off'ering  of  a  lamb,  or  by  any  offering  at 
all.     The  concealment   of  damaging   evidence    to  which  tae 


190  y CIV  is  J L  Sacrifices. 

provision  of  the  law  points,  was  not  an  act  of  falsehood,  but  a 
want  of  adequate  zeal  for  the  infliction  of  just  penalties  on  the 
guilty.  If  the  man's  repentance  of  his  omission  was  sufficient  to 
lead  him  to  confess  and  to  provide  the  sacrifice,  his  failure 
might  well  be  forgiven.  This  law  is  an  indication  of  the  firmness 
and  resoluteness  with  which  the  whole  nation  was  to  unite  in  the 
administration  of  criminal  justice,  rather  than  of  any  tendency 
in  the  Jewish  law,  to  relax  moral  obligations  by  promising 
forgiveness,  on  the  bare  ground  of  a  ritual  sacrifice,  to  what  we 
call  sin. 

(3)  If  a  man  had  sworn  an  oath  to  do  good  or  to  do  evil,  the 
force  of  which  he  did  not  at  the  time  perceive,  which  he  was 
unable,  unwilling,  or  forbidden  by  the  Divine  law  to  perform, 
he  had  to  bring  the  same  sin-offering  as  in  the  case  last 
mentioned,  and  Avas  assured  of  forgiveness.  Among  ourselves, 
if  a  man  "  pronounce  with  his  lips  "  words  whose  meaning  and 
purpose  he  does  not  apprehend,  utters  a  vow  in  a  state  of  intox- 
ication, for  instance,  utters  it  under  some  transitory  delusion, 
utters  it  under  the  influence  of  deception  practised  upon  him  by 
others,  it  would  not  be  considered  binding  at  all.  His  soul  is » 
under  no  obligation ;  his  lips,  not  his  will,  have  offended.  But 
the  Jewish  Lawgiver,  solicitous  for  the  sanctity  of  holy  things, 
does  not  permit  him  to  retreat  from  his  oath,  without  acknow- 
ledging his  involuntary  error,  and  bringing  the  appointed 
sacrifice  ;  then  he  might  retreat  and  be  forgiven.  This  cannot 
be  regarded  as  a  case  of  a  moral  offence  actually  forgiven 
because  a  sacrifice  has  been  offered. 


II. 

There  was  another  class  of  sacrifices  very  similar  to  the  sin- 
offerings,  to  which  it  is  necessary  I  should  refer  for  the  sake  of 
completing  my  argument — I  mean  the  trespass-offerings.  There 
has  been  great  division  of  opinion  among  scholars  on  the  exact 
distinction  between  the  two.  Professor  Fairbairn  has,  I 
think,  defined  the  characteristic  of  the  trespass-offerings 
very  accurately  in  these  words, — they  "  Avere  offerings  for 
sins  in  which  the  offence  given,  or  the  debt  incurred  by  the 


Jeivish  Sacrifices.  191 

misdeed,  admitted  of  some  sort  of  estimation  and  recompense ; 
so  that  in  addition  to  the  atonement  required  for  the  iniquity, 
in  the  one  point  of  view,  there  might  also,  in  the  other,  be  the 
exaction  and  the  payment  of  a  restitution.'"'^  There  were 
cases  in  which  the  trespass-offering  was  not,  and  could  hardly 
be,  accompanied  with  any  compensation  for  the  offence,  but  I 
think  that  the  essential  characteristic  of  this  class  of  sacrifices 
is  exactly  described  in  the  extract. 

(i)  If  through  ignorance  any  man  kept  back  from  God  what 
ought  to  have  been  consecrated  to  Him,  the  omission  was  to 
be  atoned  for  by  bringing  a  ram  of  an  adequate  value  (to  be 
determined  by  the  priest)  for  a  trespass-offering,  and  property 
equal  in  worth  to  a  fifth  more  than  he  had  wrongfully  though 
ignorantly  withheld.  The  sin  was  committed  in  ignorance ; 
when  discovered,  the  man  was  to  make  ample  amends ;  and 
when  the  sacrifice  was  offered,  he  was  to  be  assured  of  pardon. 

(2)  Again,  if  a  man,  unconsciously — not  through  ignorance 
— infringed  any  ceremonial  law,  he  was  regarded  as  having 
incurred  a  debt  to  God,  and  this  was  forgiven  on  his  offering  a 
ram  which  the  priest  should  pronounce  to  be  of  adequate 
value. 

Ignorance  in  the  one  case  and  unconsciousness  in  the  other 
removed  the  moral  element  altogether  from  these  offences ; 
compensation  was  offered  where  compensation  was  possible ; 
and  since  the  transgression  was  altogether  an  external,  not  a 
spiritual  thing,  it  was  forgiven  on  the  bare  condition  that  the 
external  ceremonial  was  fulfilled. 

(3)  For  certain  offences  knowingly  committed,  trespass 
offerings,  with  pecuniary  compensation,  secured  pardon. 

If  a  man  wlio  had  received  property  in  trust  was  guilty  of 
fraud,  in  relation  to  it ;  or  committed  a  fraud  against  his  partner 
in  business ;  or  dishonestly  kept  lost  property  which  he  had 
found ;  or  by  an  oath  unjustly  deprived  another  of  property ; 
or,  finally,  by  any  deception,  or  by  any  high-handed  wrong-doing, 
enriched  himself  at  another's  expense, — he  was  to  bring  a 
trespass  offering  and  restore  the  property,  adding  to  it  a  fifth 
of  its  value,  and  the  sin  was  to  be  forgiven.      It  is  rather 

*  Fairbairn's  Typology,   II.     341. 


192  Jewish  Sacrifices. 

startling  to  find  that  actual  pardon  was  promised  for  crimes- 
like  these  upon  making  compensation  and  bringing  the  sacrifice  ; 
but  a  little  consideration  may  perhaps  diminish  the  surprise. 
It  is  clear  that  the  law  did  not  apply  to  those  whose  crimes  had 
been  detected  by  others,  or  could  be  punished  by  public  justice. 
Severer  penalties  than  these  were  inflicted  by  the  magistrate. 
The  thief,  if  brought  before  the  public  tribunals,  had  to  restore 
according  to  circumstances,  twofold,  fourfold,  or  fivefold  what 
he  had  taken,  or  was  sold  into  bondage.  Breach  of  trust,  or 
denying  the  possession  of  property  that  had  been  found,  was 
punished  by  requiring  the  restitution  of  double  its  value.  But 
if  a  man  guilty  of  any  of  these  crimes  had  not  been  brought 
before  the  magistrate,  or,  through  defective  testimony,  or  judicial 
feebleness  or  corruption,  had  escaped  the  penalty,  this  law  of 
the  trespass  offering  appealed  to  his  conscience  to  make  public 
confession  of  his  guilt,  to  implore  God's  pardon  by  sacrifice,  and 
to  make  adequate  compensation  to  him  who  had  been  wronged. 
If  conscience  responded  to  this  appeal,  if  he  was  able  to 
overcome  the  natural  shame  which  would  prevent  him  from 
publicly  acknowledging  his  crime,  if  he  restored  the  property, 
augmented  by  a  fifth  of  its  value,  his  repentance  might  surely 
be  accepted  as  genuine.  He  could  give  no  further  proof  of 
the  reality  of  his  sorrow,  than  this  voluntary  confession  and 
voluntary  restoration.     He  was  therefore  assured  of  forgiveness. 

But  this  is  not  an  instance  of  a  crime  being  pardoned  simply 
on  the  ground  of  a  sacrifice  being  offered ;  the  consequences 
of  the  crime  were  voluntarily  and  completely  repaired,  a  heavy 
pecuniary  penalty  was  voluntarily  borne,  and  public  shame  was 
voluntarily  endured,  in  obedience  to  the  Divine  law.  Nothing 
is  said  in  the  rubric  of  the  trespass-offering  concerning  the 
necessity  of  repentance  to  make  the  sacrifice  effectual ;  the 
reality  of  the  repentance  is  naturally  and  justly  taken  for 
granted.  The  object  of  the  law  was  to  encourage  restitution 
when  -vvTong  had  been  done,  to  remind  the  wrong-doer  that  the 
Divine  displeasure  had  to  be  averted,  as  well  as  compensation 
given  to  the  victim  of  injustice. 

(4)  A  trespass-oftering  formed  part  of  the  ritual  at  the 
cleansing  of  a  leper;  perhaps  to  indicate  that  as  his  leprosy 


Jewish  Sacrifices.  193 

had  separated  him  both  from  the  civil  and  reUgious  Hfe  of  the 
nation,  he  had  been  obUged  to  neglect  duties  which  he 
naturally  owed  both  to  God  and  man ;  in  the  trespass-offerings 
the  debt  was  acknowledged  that  it  might  be  cancelled. 

(5)  A  similar  reason,  perhaps,  may  be  alleged  for  the 
trespass-offering  which  the  Nazarite  had  to  offer  if  he  ac- 
cidentally became  unclean ;  he  had  failed,  though  not  by 
his  own  fault,  in  discharging  a  debt  to  God  which  he  had 
voluntarily  undertaken,  and  as  in  the  last  case,  the  debt  was 
acknowledged  in  the  trespass-offering,  that  it  might  be  cancelled. 

(6)  There  was  one  other  case  in  which  a  trespass-offering 
was  required.  If  a  man  committed  adultery  with  his  slave,  the 
crime  was  riot  to  be  punished  by  the  death  of  both,  as  was  the 
law  when  both  were  free ;  but  there  was  to  be  a  scourging,  not 
of  the  woman  only,  as  our  version  has  it,  but  perhaps  of  both, 
or  still  more  probably  of  the  man  only,  and  then  he  was  to 
bring  a  trespass-offering,  and  to  be  forgiven.  This  assurance 
of  j)ardon  apart  from  any  guarantee  of  repentance  for  a  real 
crime,  stands  alone  in  the  Jewish  law;  its  exceptional  position 
would  justify  us,  I  think,  in  passing  it  over  in  a  general  estimate 
of  the  efficacy  and  results  of  animal  sacrifice.  Perhaps  we 
ought  to  regard  the  provision  as  primarily  intended  not 
to  provide  atonement  and  secure  pardon,  but  as  one  of 
the  numerous  arrangements  by  which  the  Mosaic  system 
endeavoured  to  soften  and  to  elevate  the  condition  of  the 
slave.  It  is  clear  that  the  relation  of  a  master  to  his  slaves 
involved  the  same  evils  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world  that  it 
involves  now ;  and  the  Jewish  Lawgiver,  unable  to  break  down 
the  atrocious  system  by  the  force  of  mere  authority,  so  regu- 
lated it  as  to  diminish  its  hardships  and  gradually  to  develope 
a  recognition  of  the  indestructible  right  to  personal  freedom 
of  every  man  who  has  not  been  guilty  of  a  crime.  The 
scourging  was  the  physical  penalty  of  the  offence ;  the  trespass- 
offering  reminded  the  wrong-doer  that  he  had  both  violated  the 
rights  of  another  and  provoked  the  anger  of  God.  But  the 
difficulty  of  this  case  I  frankly  admit. 

Speaking  generally,  neither  sin-offering  nor  trespass-offering 

o 


194  Jewish  Sacrifices. 

could,  when  offered  by  an  individual,  assure  forgiveness  to  the 
guilty  for  any  sins  committed  either  against  God  or  man. 
They  removed  ceremonial  defilement  which  had  been  un- 
avoidably, involuntarily,  or  unconsciously  incurred,  but  provided 
no  atonement  and  secured  no  pardon  for  intentional  violation 
of  even  ceremonial  precepts.  They  gave  rest  to  the  conscience 
for  unconscious  trifling  with  holy  things,  or  neglecting  to  aid  in 
the  administration  of  justice;  but  provided  no  atonement  and 
secured  no  pardon  for  breaking  solemn  vows,  or  disregarding 
the  sanctity  of  an  oath.  They  gave  assurance  of  God's  forgive- 
ness, when,  through  ignorance,  God's  claims  on  property  had 
not  been  satisfied,  and  this  only  on  condition  that  more  was 
consecrated  to  Him  on  the  discovery  of  the  offence  than  the 
law  originally  required  ;  but  provided  no  atonement  and  secured 
no  pardon  for  intentional  sacrilege.  In  certain  special  cases 
of  injustice,  they  obtained  God's  mercy,  when  the  wrong  had 
been  actually  undone  by  voluntary  restitution  to  the  injured, 
and  the  shame  of  public  confession  had  been  voluntarily 
endured ;  but  provided  no  atonement  and  secured  no  pardon  for 
the  innumerable  sins  against  God,  or  against  man,  which 
cannot  actually  be  undone  by  subsequent  acts  of  reparation  : 
the  only  moral  offences  which  God  forgave  on  the  mere 
offering  of  a  sacrifice,  were  offences  freely  acknowledged, 
offences  not  symbolically,  but  actually,  atoned  for  and  cancelled 
by  voluntary  restitution.  God  forgave,  only  when  by  the 
voluntary  act  of  the  guilty,  the  victim  of  injustice  no  longer 
suffered  from  the  crime. 

If  when  a  man  had  told  a  lie,  or  committed  a  sensual  sin, 
or  intentionally  neglected  any  religious  duty,  he  had  been 
directed  to  procure  a  sacrifice — no  instruction,  however  clear, 
however  authoritative,  however  solemn,  to  the  effect,  that  apart 
from  interior  repentance  and  trust  in  the  Divine  mercy  the 
sacrifice  would  be  unavailing,  could  have  prevented  men 
coming  to  regard  the  mere  ceremonial  act  as  an  easy  means 
of  blotting  out  the  moral  offence.  Iniquity  would  have  been 
established  by  a  law.  The  moral  sense  of  the  nation  would 
have  been  enfeebled  and  paralyzed  by  the  natural  influence 
of  its  religious  institutions. 


Jewish  Sacrifices.  195 

III. 

What  provision  was  there,  then,  in  the  Levitical  system  for 
recognising  the  idea  of  atonement  in  connection  with  the 
pardon  of  moral  offences?  Men  sinned  against  the  moral 
law  in  those  days ;  how  were  they  assured  of  the  possibility 
of  obtaining  the  Divine  forgiveness? 

The  anger  of  God  against  moral  transgressions  was  revealed 
more  awfully  at  Mount  Sinai  than  it  had  ever  been  revealed 
before ;  was  there  not  also  a  clearer  revelation  of  the  divine 
mercy  ?     There  was. 

It  is,  I  think,  a  very  significant  fact  that  no  mention  is 
made  of  sin-offerings  before  the  giving  of  the  Mosaic  law.  In 
the  previous  sacrifices,  the  idea  of  expiation,  if  recognised  at  all, 
was  vague  and  indistinct.  The  slaying  of  an  animal  and  the 
burning  of  it  on  an  altar  was  a  common  mode  of  worship  from 
the  very  earliest  times ;  but  there  is  not  a  solitary  hint,  so  far  as 
I  know,  before  the  establishment  of  the  Levitical  system,  that 
the  sacrifice  had  any  atoning  power,  real  or  symbolic. 

Apart  from  an  express  Divine  revelation, — and  no  such 
revelation  is  recorded  as  having  been  given  in  patriarchal 
times, — I  do  not  see  how  the  death  of  a  lamb  or  a  bullock 
could  have  been  regarded  as  possessing  expiatory  significance  or 
value,  although  it  was  a  very  natural  form  of  confessing  that  the 
worshipper  deserved  the  death  he  had  inflicted,  and  of  depre- 
cating the  Divine  displeasure. 

That  sacrifices  were  offered  as  soon  as  man  was  driven  out  of 
Eden,  that  they  were  offered  in  connection  with  sin,  is  no  proof 
that  they  were  regarded  as  expiatory,  but  only  that  the  worship- 
per confessed  his  own  guilt  or  the  guilt  of  others  and  implored 
God's  mercy,  by  a  rite  which  he  knew  that  God  approved. 
When  the  evil  of  sin  was  more  emphalically  revealed  in  the 
Mosaic  dispensation, — although  the  old  burnt-offering  Avas  still 
retained,  and  atoning  significance,  though  subordinate  to  other 
purposes,  was  now,  for  the  first  time,  distinctly  ascribed  to  it, — 
a  new  offering  with  a  new  name  and  a  new  ritual  was  instituted 
specially  to  represent  the  idea  of  expiation.  The  sin-offering 
appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  Levitical  law. 


196  jf etuis h  Sacrifices. 

When  offered  by  individuals,  it  had  no  power,  as  I  have 
already  proved,  to  atone  for  sin ;  not  even  a  symbolic  expiation 
for  moral  offences  was  attributed  to  it.  But  there  were  a  few 
occasions  on  which  it  was  offered  by  public  law  and  for  the 
whole  people.     To  these  we  will  now  direct  our  attention. 

(i)  The  daily  sacrifices  in  the  temple  were  not  sin-offerings, 
but  burnt-offerings ;  the  morning  and  evening  lamb  exhibited 
the  idea  of  atonement  only  faintly  and  in  connection  with  ideas 
of  a  different  order.  It  was  the  same  with  the  double  sacrifices 
offered  on  ordinary'  Sabbaths. 

But,  at  the  commencement  of  every  month,  special  rites  were 
celebrated,  and  in  addition  to  special  burnt-offerings,  a  kid  of 
the  goats  was  to  be  publicly  offered  for  a  sin-offering.  A  public 
sin-offering  was  also  part  of  the  appointed  ritual  at  the  passover, 
and  at  pentecost,  and  at  the  feast  of  trumpets,  and  every  day 
during  the  feast  of  tabernacles ;  and,  on  the  great  day  of  atone- 
ment, the  whole  ritual  centred  and  culminated  in  offerings  to 
which  an  expiatory  significance  is  distinctly  ascribed.  At 
specified  times,  therefore,  during  the  year,  and  at  the  commence- 
ment of  every  month,  expiatory  sacrifices  for  sin  were  offered 
for  the  whole  people.  It  is,  however,  the  great  annual  expiation 
that  was  specially  present  to  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  in  the 
passage  to  which  our  attention  is  directed  this  morning ;  the 
idea  of  the  public  sin-offering  was  most  clearly  exhibited  in  that 
remarkable  ritual,  and  in  it  we  shall  be  most  likely  to  discover 
Avhat  the  real  effect  of  the  sin-offering  was  supposed  to  be. 

Most  of  the  religious  festivals  of  the  Jewish  people  were 
bright  and  cheerful.  Their  ordinary  Sabbaths  were  days  of 
rest  but  not  of  melancholy ;  and  their  feasts  were  times  of  great 
rejoicing.  But  on  one  day  of  the  year  they  were  to  "afflict" 
their  "  souls  "  by  "  a  statute  for  ever."  In  the  sacrifices  of  that 
day  there  was  "  a  remembrance  again  made  of  sins  every  year." 
The  rubric  for  these  annual  ceremonies  is  most  minute  and,  on 
the  whole,  easily  intelligible.  Omitting  some  of  the  details  of 
the  ritual,  which  were  however  unusually  significant,  the  cere- 
monial of  the  day  may  be  briefly  detailed. 

The  High  Priest,  who,  as  the  religious  representative  of  the 
nation,  sustained  the  most  prominent  part  throughout  the  cere- 


jfcwisk  Sacrifices.  ic)'j 

monies  of  the  day,  first  laid  aside  the  gorgeous  robes  in  which 
he  ordinarily  discharged  the  functions  of  his  office,  and  clothed 
himself  in  plain,  white  linen ;  for  it  was  a  time  of  humiliation, 
not  of  pomp  and  majesty.  He  then  brought  the  living  animals 
appointed  for  the  sacrifices  of  the  day,  and  presented  them  at 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  The  lot  was  cast  to  determine 
which  of  the  two  goats,  together  constituting  the  sin-offering  for 
the  people,  was  to  be  slain  ;  and  which  was  to  be  afterwards 
sent  away  into  the  wilderness.  A  bullock  having  been  slain  as 
a  sin-offering,  to  make  atonement  for  himself  and  the  priest- 
hood, the  High  Priest  entered  the  Most  Holy  Place,  closed 
against  even  him  all  the  year  beside ;  and  with  streaming 
incense  ascending  from  the  censer  in  one  hand,  he  stood  before 
the  mercy-seat,  and  before  the  adoring  cherubim,  and  before 
the  cloud  of  glory  above  the  ark  :  with  the  other  hand  he 
sprinkled  the  blood  of  the  bullock  on  the  mercy-seat,  and  then 
again  sprinkled  the  blood  seven  times  on  the  floor  before  the 
ark.*  After  this  he  came  out ;  the  special  work  of  expiation 
for  himself  and  the  priesthood  had  been  accomplished.  The 
goat  destined  to  die  for  the  people  having  been  slain,  he  re- 
turned to  the  innermost  sanctuary,  and,  as  before,  sprinkled 
the  blood  first  on  the  mercy-seat,  and  then  seven  times  on  the 
floor  before  the  ark.  By  his  first  entrance  he  was  said  "  to 
make  an  atonement "  for  his  own  sins,  and  by  the  second  for 
the  sins  of  the  people ;  and  since  by  their  iniquities  the  very 
sanctuary  of  God  had  been  defiled,  he  was  to  sprinkle  the 
blood  both  of  the  bullock  and  the  goat  seven  times  upon  the 
altar  of  incense,  "  to  cleanse  it  and  hallow  it  from  the  unclean- 
ness  of  the  children  of  Israel."  This  having  been  done,  he  laid 
both  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  living  goat,  and  confessed 
over  it  "  all  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  their 
transgressions,  with  all  their  sins,  putting  them  on  the  head  of 
the  goat,"  and  then  sent  it,  by  a  man  appointed  for  the  purpose, 
into  the  wilderness. 

The  great  work  of  expiation  was  now  consummated.     The 

*  Some  suppose  that  the  High  Priest  entered  the  Holy  Place  first  with  the 
incense,  and  then  a  second  time  with  the  blood.      The  rubric  is  not  quite  clear. 


198  Jewish  Sacrifices. 

High  Priest  divested  himself  of  his  linen  garments,  purified 
himself  with  water,  arrayed  himself  in  his  splendid  robes,  put 
on  his  ephod  of  crimson,  purple,  and  gold,  and  his  breastplate 
flashing  with  precious  stones.  He  then  offered  a  burnt-offering 
for  himself  and  a  burnt-offering  for  the  people,  the  atoning 
element  in  which  was  on  this  day  emphatically  recognized  ; 
and,  passing  over  some  significant  but  less  important  rites,  the 
solemn  ceremonial  was  over. 

There  are  four  or  five  facts  which  seem  to  me  very  obvious 
and  certain  in  relation  to  this  annual  ceremonial. 

(i)  The  sins  confessed  on  that  day  by  the  High  Priest  were 
not  mere  ceremonial  offences,  nor  offences  against  Jehovah 
considered  as  the  political  head  of  the  Jewish  people.  When 
the  High  Priest  was  charged  to  confess  with  such  solemnity  the 
iniquities,  transgressions,  and  sins  of  the  nation  over  the  head 
of  the  goat,  it  is  surely  inconceivable  that  the  confession  re- 
ferred to  mere  ceremonial  lapses,  for  every  one  of  which  there 
was,  I  think,  an  adequate  ceremonial  atonement.  Nor  is  there 
any  hint  that  there  was  any  intention  to  distinguish  between  sin 
as  an  internal  act,  a  spiritual  offence,  a  crime  against  God,  as 
the  moral  governor  of  mankind,  and  sin  as  a  mere  external 
and  political  offence  against  the  laws  of  the  nation  of  which 
God  was  the  true  King.  The  language  of  confession  "is  as  full, 
as  comprehensive,  as  exhaustive,  as  language  could  possibly  be; 
and  not  a  single  part  of  the  ritual  can  be  pointed  to  as  sug- 
gesting an  idea  of  the  re-adjustment  of  the  merely  political 
relations  between  God  and  the  Jewish  people.  The  expiation, 
if  expiation  there  was,  had  to  do  with  sin,  in  the  truest  and 
deepest  sense  the  word  can  bear. 

(2)  The  sin  confessed  on  that  day  was  considered  as 
expiated,  really  or  symbolically,  by  the  appointed  sacrifice. 
Aaron  made  atonement  for  himself  and  his  house,  and  then 
for  the  whole  nation.  They  were  very  familiar  with  the  idea  of 
atonement.  When  they  had  unintentionally  transgressed  a 
ceremonial  law,  the  private  sin-offering  atoned  for  and  can- 
celled the  offence.  When  they  had  unintentionally  become 
ceremonially  unclean,  the  sin-offering  restored  to  them   free 


Jewish  Sacrifices.  199 

access  to  the  courts  of  the  Lord.  They  had  been  forbidden  to 
eat  blood,  because  "  the  hfe  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood,  and  I 
have  given  it  you  upon  the  altar,  said  Jehovah,  to  make  an 
atonement  for  your  souls ;  for  it  is  the  blood  that  maketh  an 
atonement  for  the  soul."  The  life  of  the  animal  stood  for 
their  life ;  its  death  was  an  expiation  for  their  offences.  And 
although  the  atoning  element  was  always  present  in  the  animal 
sacrifices,  it  received  peculiar  emphasis  in  the  offerings  of  this 
particular  day.  The  very  name  of  the  principal  sacrifices  gave 
prominence  to  the  idea  of  expiation ;  they  were  sin-offerings. 
The  language  used  in  instituting  the  service  gave  prominence 
to  it ;  again  and  again  it  is  said  that  the  rites  of  that  day  were 
to  make  "  atonement."  The  peculiar  ceremonies  gave  promi- 
nence to  it;  the  sending  away  of  the  goat  into  the  wilderness 
with  the  sins  of  the  nation  on  his  head— to  indicate  their 
complete  removal,  and  suggesting  to  our  minds  the  idea  after- 
wards expressed  by  the  Psalmist,  "  as  far  as  the  east  is  from 
the  west,  so  far  hath  He  removed  our  transgressions  from  us," 
—forced  into  distinct  and  unambiguous  prominence,  the  idea 
that  atonement  was  being  effected  for  the  sins  of  the  nation. 

(3)  No  one  could  suppose  that  the  slaying  of  the  one  goat 
or  the   sending   of    the   other   into    the    wilderness    actually 
expiated  the  offence  of  the  whole  people.      As  individuals, 
they  were  accustomed   to   bring  costlier  sacrifices  for  single 
transgressions,   for    involuntary    transgressions,   for    transgres- 
sions   against  the  merely   ceremonial  law;   it  was   impossible 
for  them  to  believe  that  the  innumerable  sins  of  all  the  people 
of    Israel,    during    a    whole    year,    could    be    truly    atoned 
for  by  a  comparatively  insignificant  offering.     In  this  lay  the 
safety  of  the  whole  service.     Had    they  been   permitted   to 
bring  individual  sacrifices  for  individual  offences  against  the 
moral  law,— sacrifices  off"ered  at  the   cost   of  the   individual 
offender,— there  would  have  been  an  irresistible  tendency  to 
regard  the  expiation  as  real  and  complete.     But  the  two  goats 
of  the  great  day  of  atonement  were  provided  at  the   public 
cost,  they  did  not  impose  a  burden  on  a  solitary  individual 
among   all   the   thousands  of  Israel;    and  yet  they  were  to 


200  Jewish  Sacrifices. 

expiate  innumerable  offences.     The  symbolic  character  of  the 
expiation  could  not  fail  to  be  recognised. 

(4)  No  one  could  suppose  that  these  annual  sin-offerings,  by 
their  own  intrinsic  efficacy,  secured  actual  forgiveness  for  any, 
even  the  least,  offence  against  the  Divine  law.  "  Without  the 
shedding  of  blood  there  was  no  remission  of  sin,"  but  it  is  an 
error  to  suppose  that  "  where  blood  was  duly  shed,  in  the  way 
and  manner  the  law  required,  remission  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course." 

There  is  a  very  noticeable  difference  between  what  is  said  by 
Moses  about  the  public  sin-offerings  and  what  is  said  about  the 
private  sin-offerings.  When  an  individual  brought  his  sacrifice 
to  expiate  an  involuntary  offence  against  the  ceremonial  lavv',  it 
is  said  that  by  offering  the  sacrifice  "  the  priest  shall  make 
atonement  for  him,  as  concerning  his  sin,  and  //  shall  he 
forgiven  him."  When  the  trespass-offering  was  brought  for  any 
of  the  specified  moral  offences  I  have  already  noticed,  it  is 
said,  "The  priest  shall  make  atonement  for  him  before  the 
Lord,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him."  The  ceremonial  offence 
was  blotted  out  when  the  ceremonial  compensation  was 
offered ;  the  genuine  repentance  of  the  man  that  brought 
the  trespass-offering  for  an  offence  in  which  a  moral  element 
was  present,  was  taken  for  granted  because  he  had  volun- 
tarily met  the  hard  conditions  associated  with  the  sacrifice, 
and  therefore  he  was  assured  of  pardon.  There  is  no  such 
assurance  of  forgiveness  for  the  sins  which  were  expiated 
by  the  annual  ceremonial.  Atonement  was  made,  but  re- 
mission did  not  necessarily  follow.  No  man  could  dream  that 
remission  necessarily  followed.  The  two  ideas  of  atonement 
and  pardon,  though  associated,  are  distinct.  Atonement  is  the 
condition  of  pardon ;  but  whether  pardon  shall  be  granted  as 
soon  as  atonement  is  made,  depends  on  the  existence  or 
absence  of  moral  hindrances  to  forgiveness  in  the  sinner  him- 
self. God  \5  free  to  fofgive,  because  acknowledgment  has  been 
made  of  the  evil  of  sin ;  but  other  conditions  must  be  met 
before  forgiveness  is  actually  bestowed. 

(5)  The  necessity  of  repentance  in  connection  with  the  great 
act  of  expiation  was  most  impressively  taught  by  the  law  that 


JeivisJi  Sacrifices.  201 

on  that  day,  tlie  people  were  "  to  afiflict  their  souls."  Common 
work  was  to  be  suspended  as  on  the  weekly  Sabbath  ;  there 
was  to  be  a  holy  convocation,  and  the  people  were  to  spend 
the  day  in  sorrow  and  humiliation  for  all  their  sins.  He  who 
thus  fulfilled  the  law,  but  he  alone,  would  be  able  to  find  in  the 
solemn  ritual  assurance  of  the  Divine  mercy ;  and  although  his 
conscience  would  find  no  satisfaction  in  the  sacrifices  them- 
selves, as  though  they  were  an  adequate  expiation  of  his 
offences,  he  would  be  able  to  rest  in  the  conviction  that  for 
reasons,  too  deep  and  mysterious  perhaps  for  the  human 
intellect  to  discover,  but  perfectly  satisfactory  to  the  infinitely 
and  only  "  wise  God,"  forgiveness  was  certainly  assured  to  all 
who  sorrowed  for  their  sin  in  connection  with  the  symbolic  acts 
of  confession  and  atonement. 


IV. 

I  find  that  this  sermon  has  already  extended  far  beyond  the 
limits  I  anticipated,  and  must  postpone  the  exposition  of  the 
text.  In  the  future  discourses  on  this  Epistle  I  shall  not,  I 
think,  have  any  occasion  to  task  your  strength  as  I  have  tasked 
it  this  morning  and  as  I  tasked  it  last  Sunday ;  but  I  cannot 
close  without  calling  your  attention  to  the  irresistible  argument 
afforded  by  this  discussion  for  the  truly  expiatory  character  of 
the  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  evangelical  doctrine 
of  the  atonement  does  not  rest,  as  some  seem  to  suppose,  on 
the  artificial  refinements  of  uninspired  theologians,  or  on  Aveak 
analogies  drawn  from  the  imperfect  operations  of  human 
governments,  or  on  the  etymology  of  a  few  Greek  nouns  and 
verbs,  or  on  the  exact  force  of  one  or  two  Greek  prepositions. 

At  the  very  gates  of  the  fair  garden  which  man  lost  by 
his  transgression,  sacrifice  began  to  be  offered  when  man 
appealed  to  the  Divine  mercy  and  gave  thanks  for  the  Divine 
goodness.  Whether  instituted  by  a  direct  Divine  command,  or, 
as  some  suppose,  suggested  by  the  instincts  of  the  human  heart, 
this  form  of  worship  was  manifestly  acceptable  to  the  Most 
High.  When  the  descendants  of  Abraham  were  organized  into 
a  nation,  and  the  law  of  God  was  more  fully  revealed,  and  the 


202  Jewish  Sacrifices. 

hope  of  salvation  strengthened  by  new  institutions  and 
promises,  the  idea  of  expiation  for  sin,  by  means  of  death,  was 
one  of  the  most  prominent  characteristics  of  the  rehgious 
system  which  was  to  develope  the  thought  and  Hfe  of  the 
chosen  race.  The  idea  was  so  presented  that  no  sanction  was 
given  to  the  fatal  delusion  that,  by  the  mere  blood  of  the 
sacrifices,  transgression  of  the  moral  law  could  be  atoned 
for,  or  that,  by  mere  external  rites,  the  impenitent  sin- 
ner could  escape  from  the  just  penalties  of  his  crimes. 
The  moral  sense  of  the  guilty  was  strengthened  by  the 
very  institutions  which  suggested  and  justified  the  hope  of  God's 
forgiveness.  But  the  idea  of  expiation,  by  the  blood  of 
innocent  victims, — and  of  expiation  as  the  necessary  condition 
of  the  Divine  pardon,  was  wrought  into  the  very  structure  of 
the  religious  faith  of  the  Jew.  He  might  miss  the  meaning  of 
every  other  part  of  the  Mosaic  system,  but  not  to  recognize  this 
was  impossible.  It  was  forced  upon  him  in  a  thousand  forms  ; 
he  could  not  escape  it.  And,  however  miserably  the  Mosaic 
institutions  may  have  failed  in  disciplining  a  truly  righteous  and 
godly  nation,  they  did  not  fail  in  carrying  this  idea  into  the 
intellect  and  heart  of  the  Jewish  people.  It  coloured  their 
language, — it  gave  form  even  to  their  superstitions.  It  was  as 
deeply  rooted  in  their  souls  as  the  conviction  that  they  were  an 
elect  race,  called  of  God  to  higher  distinctions  •  than  the 
proudest  nations  of  the  heathen  world  possessed. 

When  Christ  came,  and  when  His  apostles  began  to  preach 
the  gospel,  not  to  the  Jews  only  but  also  to  the  Gentiles,  the 
idea  of  expiation  re-appears  in  the  new  and  nobler  faith.  If  it 
had  been  erroneous,  there  should  have  been  a  resolute  and 
uncompromising  controversy  -with  the  tremendous  falsehood  ;  or 
at  least  a  careful  avoidance  of  every  expression,  every  allusion, 
that  could  even  appear  to  sanction  and  was  likely  to  perpetuate 
it.  To  tell  me  that  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  which 
teaches  me  that  Christ  by  His  death  truly  atoned  for  the  sins  of 
mankind,  was  an  accommodation  to  Je\vish  prejudices,  is  not 
only  to  impeach  the  authority  of  the  ancient  faith,  which  reveals 
the  more  clearly  the  signs  of  its  Divine  origin  the  more  pro- 
foundly it  is  studied,  but  to  insult  the  understanding  and 
slander  the  integrity  of  Christ  Himself  and  His  apostles. 


Jczvish  Sacrifices.  203 

"  Accommodation  to  Jewish  prejudices  !  "     The  suggestion 
is,  I  repeat,  an  insult  to  the  understanding  of  the  founders  of  the 
Christian  faith.     Had  Christ  been  anxious  for  that,  there  was 
no  need  for  Him  to   transfer   into   the   new   faith   the   false 
theology  of  the  old.      It  would   have   been   easy   and   com- 
paratively harmless,   to  flatter   Jewish    patriotism    and    leave 
Jewish  formalism  unrebuked.     He  would  not  have  healed  the 
sick  on  the  Sabbath,  nor  justified  His  disciples  for  plucking  the 
ears   of  corn    as   they  passed   on   the   Sabbath  through   the 
corn  fields.     He  would  never  have  spoken  of  the  destruction 
of  the  temple.      He   would   have   commanded    His   disciples 
to    perpetuate    its    services.       Had    He    been    anxious    for 
"  acommodation    to    Jewish    prejudices,"     He    would    have 
been    punctilious    in    observing    the    external    customs   which 
they  honoured,  while   He  silendy  undermined  the  erroneous 
elements  of  their  belief.     It  is  not  the  manner  of  Jesuitical 
reformers  to  preach  the  false  and  pernicious  principles  of  the 
system  they  wish  to  overthrow,  and  to  treat  lightly  or  trample 
under    foot    its    external    observances.      The    popular    mind 
cares  far  more  for  the  visible  ceremony  than  for  the  invisible 
conviction.     Christ  might  have  escaped  the  malice  and  cruelty 
of  His  enemies  had  He  only  taught  another  doctrine,  while  He 
carefully   honoured   the   outward   form    of   their    superstition. 
"Accommodation  to  Jewish  prejudices!"     Was  Paul  anxious 
for  that  ?     Did  he  talk  about  the  atonement  in  connection  with 
the  death  of  Christ  merely  to  humour  the  adherents  of  a  the- 
ology which  he  himself  disbelieved  ; — he  who  made  light  of 
circumcision,  and  asserted  that  the  exclusive  privileges  of  the 
Jew  were  over ;  that  nothing  was  common  or  unclean ;  that 
under  the  law  in  which  the  Jews  boasted,  they  had  been  in 
bondage  for  sixteen  hundred  years,  and   that  through  Christ 
alone  could  they  become  free  ?    The  idea,  that  the  apostle  who 
taught  these  things,  and  taught  them  so  boldly,  not  to  say 
harshly,  would,  in  teaching  any  Christian  doctrine,  swerve  a 
hair's  breadth  from  his  own  convictions  to  curry  favour  by 
accommodating  his  language  to  Jewish  prejudices,  is  simply 
absurd.     Had  he  wanted  to  do  that,  he  must  have  been  desti- 
tute of  the  most  ordinary  sense  not  to  have  seen  that  there 
were  easier  ways  of  doing  it. 


204  Jewish  Sacrifices. 

And  the  suggestion  is  a  slander  on  their  integrity.  If  on  such 
a  point  as  this,  they  hesitate,  equivocate,  cut  and  trim  their 
words  to  sanction  a  portentous  error,  my  faith  in  their  honesty 
is  gone. 

But  it  was  no  Jewish  prejudice  which  gave  form  and  colour 
to  their  teaching.  It  was  a  truth,  and  one  of  the  deepest  truths 
which  the  ancient  institutions  exhibited  and  the  ancient  prophets 
taught.  Moses  came  from  God,  and  he  by  symbolic  rites, 
revealed  that  "without  the  shedding  of  blood,  there  is  no 
remission  of  sins;"  and  in  due  time  Christ  came,  and  by  the 
Eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God — died  the 
just  for  the  unjust — was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  bruised 
for  our  iniquities, — and  now  we  have  redemption  through  His 
blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  according  to  the  riches 
of  His  grace. 


ACCESS   TO   GOD. 

"  Now  when  these  things  were  thus  ordained,  the  priests  went  always  into 
the  first  tabernacle,  accomplishing  the  service  of  God,"  &c.— Hebrews 
ix,  6-14, 

We  have  in  these  verses  an  authoritative  declaration  of  what 
God  intended  to  teach  the  Jewish  people,  by  certain  well- 
known  arrangements  in  their  tabernacle.  To  the  Holy  Place, ' 
the  priests  had  free  access  at  all  times.  Every  week,  every 
day,  they  were  there  "  accompUshi.ng  the  service  of  God,"  offering 
the  incense,  lighting  and  dressing  the  golden  lamps,  changing 
the  shewbread.  But  a  veil  separated  "  the  first  tabernacle " 
from  the  second,  the  Holy  Place  from  the  Holiest  of  all.  The 
sacred  ark,  with  its  propitiatory  covering,  the  mysterious 
cherubim,  and  the  cloud  of  glory,  was  concealed,  not  only 
from  the  people,  but  from  the  consecrated  priesthood.  Even 
the  High  Priest  himself  was  not  suffered  to  enter  the  inner 
sanctuary,  except  on  the  great  day  of  atonement. 

The  nation  was  not  excluded  altogether  from  the  immediate 
presence  of  God — for  the  representative  of  its  religious  life 
stood  once  a  year  face  to  face  with  the  visible  symbols  of  the 
Divine  Majesty;  but,  except  on  that  sohtary  occasion,  even 
the  most  sacred  acts  of  worship  were  to  be  celebrated  in  the 
less  sacred  enclosure. 

I. 

The  exclusion  of  the  very  priesthood  from  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  the  appointment  of  a  chamber  of  inferior  sanctity  as 
the  place  where  the  most  sacred  rites  of  the  ceremonial  service, 
with  only  one  exception,  were  to  be  observed,  is  declared  to 


2o6  Access  to  God. 

have  signified  ''  that  the  way  into  the  Holiest  of  alt^  had  not  yet 
been  made  7?ianifest."  That  '■'■first  tabernacle" — separated  from 
the  Most  Holy  Place  by  heavy  curtains  which  were  never 
drawn  aside  except  by  the  High  Priest,  and  by  him  only  once 
a  year,  and  even  then  in  connection  with  an  unusual  ritual  of 
most  oppressive  solemnity, — would  have  been  altogether  un- 
necessary, if  there  had  been  free  access  to  God.  While  it 
stood,  priests  and  people  were  constantly  taught  that  though 
God  was  nearer  to  them  than  to  all  mankind  besides,  they 
could  not  yet  enter  into  the  closest  and  most  blessed  com- 
munion with  Him. 

I  think  that  this  inspired  and  authoritative  interpretation  of 
what  was  meant  by  the  division  of  the  Jewish  sanctuary  into 
the  first  and  second  tabernacles,  the  Holy  Place,  and  the 
Holiest  of  all,  is  of  the  very  greatest  value  in  illustrating  the 
principles  which  should  guide  us  in  considering  all  the  parts  of 
the  Levitical  system. 

(i)  We  learn,  beyond  all  question,  that  the  arrangements 
and  institutions  of  Jewish  worship  were  intended  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  have  a  religious  significance.  The  Spirit  revealed 
Divine  truth  by  inspired  prophets.  The  same  Spirit  revealed 
Divine  truth  in  the  structure  of  the  material  sanctuary.  The 
modes  of  communication  varied  ;  the  source  and  substance  of 
the  revelation  were  the  same.  It  was  not  mere  human  fancy, 
it  was  not  a  desire  on  the  part  of  Moses  to  assimilate  "the  reli- 
gious ceremonial  of  the  Jewish  people  to  that  of  the  surround- 
ing nations,  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Levitical 
ritual ;  the  arrangements  were  a  vehicle  and  instrument  by 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  made  known  religious  truths. 

(2)  The  simplicity  and  obviousness  of  this  interpretation  of 
the  division  of  the  tabernacle  into  two  chambers,  confirms 
very  strongly  the  principle  on  which  I  have  so  frequently 
insisted  throughout  these  discourses,  that  in  determining  the 
symbolic  meaning  of  the  ancient  services  we  should  inquire 
"VVliat  was  the  impression  they  would  naturally  produce  on  the 
Jews  themselves  ? 

*  Or,  rather,  "  The  way  into  the  Holy  Places,"  i.e.,  the  true  Holy  Places. 


Access  to  God.  207 

What  the  Holy  Ghost  "-signified"  by  excluding  not  only  the 
people  but  the  priests  from  the  inner  sanctuary,  might  have 
been  seen  by  any  Jew  of  ordinary  intelligence.  There  was 
nothing  recondite  in  the  arrangement.  It  was  intelligible  to 
men  wholly  ignorant  of  the  truth  which  was  unrevealed  before 
the  coming  of  Christ.  It  must  have  produced,  even  upon 
those  who  never  asked  themselves  its  meaning,  the  designed 
impression.  Every  Jew  knew  that  even  the  High  Priest  was 
permitted  to  enter  the  Holy  of  Holies  only  once  a  year,  and 
that  the  other  priests  were  never  permitted  to  enter  it  at  all ; 
every  Jew,  therefore,  would  feel  that  free  and  habitual  access 
to  the  immediate  presence  of  God  was  checked  by  Divinely- 
appointed  institutions.  This  impression  he  would  have,  spite 
of  any  arbitrary  and  fanciful  meanings  which  his  religious 
teachers  might  suppose  they  discovered  in  the  structure  of  the 
Holy  Place  and  its  relations  to  the  Holiest  of  all ;  and  this 
impression  would  have  been  naturally  produced  on  our  o^vn 
minds  had  no  inspired  wTiter  told  us  what  the  Holy  Ghost 
signified. 

We  have  here  an  authoritative  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  we  should  interpret  the  symbolic  institutions  of  Judaism; 
and  an  illustration  which  plainly  discourages  the  fanciful  and 
arbitrary  principles  of  some  typical  commentators. 


II. 

In  the  ninth  and  tenth  verses,  the  wTiter  speaks  of  the 
inefficacy  of  the  old  ritual  to  '■'■perfect"  the  spiritual  conscious- 
ness of  the  worshipper;  to  inspire,  that  is,  a  full  and  satis- 
factory sense  of  fellowship  with  God.  It  consisted  in  the 
offering  of  meats  and  drinks,  and  in  external  baptisms,  and 
ordinances  altogether  of  a  material  and  physical  kind.  No 
spiritual  man  could  acknowledge  in  them  any  real  and  intrinsic 
power  to  remove  the  stain  of  sin  or  to  exalt  him  into  com- 
munion with  God ;  *  the  closing  of  the  Holy  of  Holies 
against   all   the   burnt-offerings   in   which   was   expressed   the 

*  TJie  "perfecting"  of  the  spiritual  consciousness  of  man  is  effected  only 
by  open  and  habitual  communion  with  God. 


2o8  Access  to  God. 

devotion  of  individuals  or  of  the  nation  to  God's  service,  and 
against  the  daily  incense  which  represented  the  praises  and 
thanksgivings  and  worship  of  all  devout  hearts,  confirmed  this 
instinctive  distrust  of  the  moral  efficacy  of  the  whole  cere- 
monial system.  It  was  "  imposed  "  on  the  people  till  the  time 
when  the  new  and  better  covenant  should  be  established,  of 
which  the  later  prophets  spoke  distinctly,  the  time  when — 
through  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  for  whom  the  whole 
nation,  from  the  very  earliest  period  of  its  history,  had  been 
taught  to  wait — the  true  kingdom  of  God  should  be  established 
among  men. 

But  Christ  having  appeared  as  "  Hig/i  Priest  of  those  good 
tilings"  which  had  been  the  object  of  Jewish  hope  through  all 
generations,  "  entered  otice  for  all"  the  very  home  of  God  ;  He 
entered  it,  not  as  the  High  Priest  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
by  passing  through  the  Holy  Place  of  a  material  sanctuary,  but 
"  through  a  greater  and  7nore  perfect  tabernacle,  one  not  made  with 
hands,  that  is,  not  belonging  to  this  visible  creation  ;  "  He  entered 
it,  not  as  the  High  Priest  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies,  by 
means  of  "  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but  by  His  oiv7i  blood ;  " 
and  so  He  '■'■  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us." 

What  was  that  "greater  and  jnore  perfect  tabernacle,  not  made 
with  hands,  that  is,  not  belonging  to  this  visible  creation,"  through 
which  the  writer  says  that  Christ  "passed"  in  order  to  enter  the 
immediate  presence  of  God  ?  His  entering  the  presence  of 
God,  is  plainly  His  ascension  into  Heaven  after  His  atonement 
for  the  sins  of  mankind  had  been  completed.  And  the  vesti- 
bule, the  ante-chamber,  through  which  He  passed,  was  surely 
that  lower  region  of  Divine  communion  in  which  He  lived 
during  the  years  of  His  humiliation.  He  dwelt  in  the  Father, 
while  He  was  here.  He  breathed  a  Divine  air.  His  devotion 
had  higher  aids  than  the  temple,  with  all  its  venerable  and 
sacred  ordinances,  could  afford.  He  served  God  in  another 
sanctuary- — a  sanctuary  not  made  with  hands,  and  not  con- 
structed of  the  materials  belonging  to  this  visible  creation. 
The  incense  of  His  reverential  worship,  the  offerings  of  His 
perfect  obedience,  were  not  presented  in  the  Holy  Place  of  the 
Jewish  tabernacle,  and  when  He  entered  with  His  own  blood 


Access  to  God.  209 

into  the  more  Immediate  presence  of  God,  He  did  not  stand  in 
the  sacred  chamber  assigned  to  the  ark  and  the  cherubim,  but 
in  the  heaven  of  heavens,  tlie  true  and  eternal  abode  of  the 
Most  High. 

Yes  !  He  has  '■'■obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us ;  for  if  the 
blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  an  heifer  sprinkling  the 
unclean,  sajictifeth  to  the  purity  of  the  flesh,  how  much  more  shall 
the  blood  of  Christ  who  through  the  Eter7ial  Spirit  offered 
HiMSEi-F  luithout  spot  to  God,  purify  your  conscience,  or  rather, 
your  spiritual  consciousness,  from  dead  works  that  you  nuty  be 
free  to  serve  the  living  God  ?  " 

The  first  thing  requiring  notice  in  these  verses,  is  the  efficacy 
conceded  to  certain  ritual  observances. 

I  need  hardly  remind  you  that  the  Levitical  Law  excluded 
from  the  public  worship  of  God  persons  who  had  contracted 
ceremonial  uncleanness.  The  leper,  the  man  who  had  touched 
a  dead  person,  either  accidentally  or  in  rendering  to  the  dead 
any  necessary  services,  was  "  unclean  ;"  and  uncleanness  was 
the  result  of  many  other  circumstances  which  it  is  unnecessary 
to  describe  in  detail.  The  design  of  these  regulations  is  not 
obscure  :  they  appeal,  for  the  most  part,  to  instincts  and  con- 
victions natural  to  the  heart  of  man.  The  body  is  not  only 
associated  most  intimately  with  the  soul,  but  physical  diseases 
and  physical  infirmities  have  in  all  ages  provided  the  very 
language  in  whicia  men  have  described  spiritual  evil.  Disease 
itself  is  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  though  not  in  all  cases  a 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  anger  against  the  particular 
individual  on  whom  it  may  rest,  it  is  a  visible  sign  that  he 
belongs  to  a  sinful  race  ;  every  material  instrument  of  punishing 
human  crime  against  human  laws  is  regarded  with  disgust 
because  of  the  use  to  which  it  is  applied — we  shrink  from  the 
touch  of  the  gallows — and  it  has  been  justly  observed  that 
"  every  form  of  disease  might  have  been  held  to  be  polluting, 
and  to  have  required  separate  purifications.  This,  however, 
would  have  rendered  the  ceremonial  observances  an  intolerable 
burden.  One  disease,  therefore,  was  chosen  in  particular,  and 
that  such  an  one  as  might  be  fitly  regarded  as  the  head  of  all 


210  Access  to  God. 

diseases,  the  most  affecting  symbol  of  sin.'""  The  repulsive 
and  loathsome  effects  of  leprosy  on  the  physical  life  of  man 
constituted,  no  doubt,  the  reason  of  the  choice ;  while  the 
disease  lasted  the  unhappy  sufferer  was  obliged  to  live  apart 
from  the  community,  and  was  denied  access  to  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle.  When  it  had  disappeared  certain  rites  were 
performed,  and  the  separation  ceased. 

Death  is  a  still  more  emphatic  and  impressive  sign  of  the 
presence  of  sin  in  the  world.  It  was  the  express  penalty  of  the 
original  transgression.  All  contact  with  it,  however  justifiable, 
however  necessary,  recalls  our  sad  condition,  and  reminds  us 
that  we  too  belong  to  a  sinful  race.  We  can  perceive  that  the 
temporary  isolation  which  the  Levitical  Law  attached  to  those 
who  had  touched  the  dead,  was  obviously  and  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  profoundest  moral  ideas.  There  could  be  no 
real  sin  in  the  physical  contact,  but  the  ceremonial  uncleanness 
which  it  entailed  would  naturally  suggest  to  all  thoughtful  Jews 
that  sin  itself,  which  was  the  original  cause  of  human  death, 
must  be  a  grievous  offence  against  God,  and  must  exclude  the 
soul  from  communion  with  Him,  since  even  accidental  and 
external  contact  with  its  great  penalty,  separated  the  most  holy 
from  the  sanctuary  seven  days,  and  imposed  the  necessity  of 
undergoing  ceremonial  cleansing.  To  remove  uncleanness  of 
this  kind,  a  red  heifer  was  slain,  and  burnt  with  most  remark- 
able ceremonies,  the  significance  of  which,  I  think,  w^e  are  now 
in  no  position  to  interpret ;  and  the  rite  of  purification  was 
effected  by  sprinkling  the  unclean  person,  on  the  third  and 
seventh  day,  with  a  bunch  of  hyssop  dipped  in  water,  in  which 
the  ashes  of  the  heifer  had  been  preserved. 

Other  ceremonies  were  appointed  to  remove  uncleanness 
resulting  from  other  causes.  It  is  conceded  that  these  external 
rites  could  cleanse  the  body  from  external  impurities.  The 
typical  uncleanness  could  be  removed  by  typical  observances. 

But  "  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  "  is  mentioned  in  addition 
to  the  blood  of  the  heifer,  and  it  is  plain  that  the  \vriter  was 
still  thinking  of  the  great  annual  expiation,  and  not  merely 

*  Fairbairii  ii,  410. 


A  cccss  to  God.  2 1 1 

of  the  ritual  for  the  removal  of  occasional  ceremonial  defile- 
ments. Hence,  some  theologians  have  inferred  that  he  means 
to  teach  that  the  whole  design,  even  of  those  annual  solemni- 
ties, was  to  purify  the  nation  from  external  and  ceremonial 
uncleanness.  You  will  have  learnt  from  the  discourse  of  last 
Sunday  morning  that  I  cannot  yield  to  this  opinion.  The 
ritual  of  the  great  day  of  atonement  cannot  be  fairly  limited  to 
such  a  purpose  as  this.  It  had  a  wider  and  a  deeper  range, 
and  pointed  to  results  which  it  had  no  power  to  accomplisli. 
It  was  a  symbolic  atonement  for  all  the  sins,  transgressions  and 
iniquities  of  the  people  ;  and  all  its  circumstances  indicated 
that  it  was  only  symbolical.  The  proof  of  this  w^as  given  last 
Sunday  and  need  not  be  repeated. 

What  the  wTiter  meant  I  think  w\as  this  :  by  the  old  law 
provision  was  made  for  the  removal  of  the  external  impurities, 
which  excluded  men  from  access  to  God  in  the  tabernacle, 
and  from  uniting  wdth  the  rest  of  the  nation  in  His  service. 
Those  who  had  been  defiled  by  contact  with  the  dead,  regained 
their  external  purity  when  they  w^ere  sprinkled  with  water  with 
which  the  ashes  of  the  heifer  were  mixed ;  nay,  it  may  be  con- 
ceded, that  the  great  annual  ceremonies  of  expiation,  though 
powerless  to  remove  interior  and  spiritual  uncleanness,  and 
though  securing  by  themselves  no  actual  pardon  for  any 
solitary  oftence,  had  this  effect,  that  when  they  were  accom- 
l^lished,  every  man  was  free  to  enter  the  tabernacle  and  to 
appeal  to  the  Divine  mercy;  they  actually  renewed  the  access  of 
the  whole  people  to  the  visible  sanctuary ;  they  removed  what- 
ever external  hindrances  might  have  otherwise  excluded  the 
sinful  nation  from  the  external  service  of  God  ;  they  sanctified 
''to  the  purity  of  the  flesh:' 

But  there  are  impurities  of  another  kind  from  which  these 
ceremonial  observances  could  not  cleanse.  The  touch  of  a 
dead  body  might  render  the  flesh  unclean,  but  there  are 
'■'7iiorks"  which  are  the  sign  of  death  in  the  soul; — thoughts, 
passions,  volitions,  which  reveal  the  mortal  corruption  of  our 
spiritual  nature.  By  these,  not  the  flesh,  but  the  spiritual  con- 
sciousness of  man  is  made  unclean ;  and  he  shrinks  from  the 
presence  of  the  li\ing  God.     How  are  we  to  be  purified  from 


212  Access  to  God. 

the  interior  and  real  defilement  ?  It  is  answered  that  if  the 
external  ritual  could  remove  external  uncleanness,  "  much  more 
shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  offered  Himself  ivithout  spot  to 
God"  whose  offering  was  not  the  act  of  a  mere  man,  but  of 
'■^the  Eternal  Spirit, — purify  your  consciousness  from  dead  works, 
to  serve  the  living  God." 

There  are  two  points  in  this  verse  which  we  shall  do  well  to 
consider. 

(i)  The  voluntary  sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  a 
Divine  act.  He  assumed  the  nature  of  man^  but  even  in  His 
humiliation  He  was  God  still.  When  He  laid  aside  His 
eternal  glorj^,  it  was  God  who  made  Himself  of  no  reputation 
and  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  assumed  the 
likeness  of  men ;  and  throughout  the  whole  history  of  His 
soiTOw  and  shame,  although  the  majesty  and  splendour  of 
His  heavenly  estate  were  obscured,  it  was  still  the  everlasting 
Son  of  the  Father, — the  Divine  Word  dwelling  upon  earth, — 
that  was  the  object  of  the  malignity  of  Satan  and  the  cruelty  of 
man.  The  sufferings  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  ancient  law  were 
not  to  be  ascribed  to  any  voluntary  submission  on  their  part  ; 
but  it  was  "  through  the  Eternal  Spirit," — the  Divine  per- 
sonality and  will  which  constituted  the  very  centre  and  root  of 
the  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, — that  He  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame.  The  mystery  of  the  union  between  tlie 
Divinity  and  the  humanity  of  our  Lord  cannot  be  penetrated  ; 
but  the  difticulties  are  metaphysical,  not  moral.  They  defy  the 
power  of  the  intellect,  but  do  not  trouble  the  conscience.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  this  union  is  forgotten,  and  if  the  sufferings 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  for  human  salvation  are  regarded  as  tlie 
sufferings  of  a  third  person  intervening  between  God  and  man, 
to  allay  the  wrath  of  the  One  and  to  secure  the  escape  of  the 
other,  moral  difficulties  arise  of  the  most  portentous  kind  ; 
and  the  conscience,  instead  of  finding  rest  in  the  sacrifice,  is 
tortured  and  discouraged.  When  God  determined  to  have 
mercy  upon  man.  He  did  not  command  or  permit  holy  angels 
to  endure  the  sufferings  which  men  had  deserved ;  nor  did 
He  command  or  permit  an  innocent  man  to  sink  under  the 
awful  burden  of  the  iniquities  of  tlie  race;    but,  since  it  be- 


Access  to  God.  213 

longed  to  Himself  to  maintain  the  eternal  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong,  and  He  had  resolved  not  to  maintain  it  in 
this  case  by  inflicting  just  penalties  on  those  who  had  sinned, 
He  came  into  the  world  Himself,  in  the  person  of  the  Son, 
assuming  our  nature  that  He  might  become  capable  of  suffer- 
ing, and  the  suffering  of  Christ  was  the  act  of  the  Eternal 
S[)irit. 

(2)  The  design  of  this  sacrifice  is  that  sinful  men  may  now 
l)e  free  to  serve  the  living  God.  The  consciousness  of  evil 
filled  Isaiah  with  dread,  when  he  saw  the  divine  glor}^  in  vision, 
and  heard  the  ceaseless  cr^  of  the  seraphim — "  Holy,  hol}^, 
holy,  Lord  God  of  Hosts ;"  and  when  we  come  into  the 
presence  of  the  living  God, — know  that  He  is  near  to  us, — that 
His  very  eye  is  upon  us, — that  His  thoughts  are  occupied  with 
us, — that  we  are  face  to  face  with  the  High  and  Lofty  One, 
whose  name  is  Holy, — the  consciousness  of  sin  oppresses  and 
paralyses  our  spiritual  powers,  and  we  sink  terror-stricken  into 
the  dust  at  His  feet.  We  dare  not  praise  His  glorious  perfec- 
tions, nor  thank  Him  for  His  goodness,  nor  even  implore  His 
mercy.  Our  strength  is  dried  up  ;  heart  and  flesh  fail.  It  is 
then  that  the  remembrance  of  His  owm  humiliation  for  our 
sakes,  and  of  the  blood  which  was  shed  upon  Calvary,  restores 
our  fainting  spirits.  We  are  unclean  in  our  very  souls  ;  but  the 
great  sacrifice  was  offered  that  we  might  be  able  to  worship 
God,  and  the  remembrance  of  that,  relieves  our  fear.  If  the 
intellect  cannot  explain  the  atonement,  the  heart  and  the  con- 
science confess  its  power.  Whatever  other  effects  it  may  have, 
it  has  this, — we  can  now  venture  to  worship  God. 

Grievously  do  they  mistake  the  design  of  the  death  of  Christ, 
wlio  suppose  that  it  was  intended  simply  to  deliver  us  from  the 
penalty  of  sin  and  to  leave  us  free  to  continue  in  transgression. 
The  unclean  were  purified  that  they  might  enter  the  tabernacle 
and  take  part  in  its  services ;  and  the  blood  of  Christ  has  been 
shed  for  us  that  we  may  have  access  to  God.  It  does  not 
render  worship  and  obedience  unnecessary,  it  is  the  means  by 
which  we  are  delivered  from  that  which  hindered  both.  Hence 
it  is  that  whether  we  offer  adoration  and  praise,  or  invoke  the 
Divine  blessing  on  ourselves,  cr  intercede  for  others,  or  venture 


214  Acci'ss  to  God. 

to  contemplate  the  Divine  glory,  and  endeavour  to  enter  into 
communion  with  the  Divine  blessedness,  we  do  all  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  His  sacrifice  is  the  foundation  on  which 
our  religious  life  is  built ;  by  His  blood  we  are  cleansed  from 
impurity  that  we  may  serve  the  living  God. 


THE  TESTAMENT. 

"  And  for  this  cause  He  is  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testament,  that  by  means 
of  death  for  the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  that  were  under  the  first 
testament,  they  which  are  called  might  receive  the  promise  of  eternal 
inheritance.     For  where  a  testament  is,"  &c. — Hebrews  ix,  15-23. 

The  great  argument  of  this  Epistle  is  now  moving  rapidly 
towards  its  close.  All  that  has  been  said  about  the  Divine 
glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  dignity  to  which  human 
nature  has  been  exalted  in  Him,  His  superiority  as  Son  of  God 
to  Moses,  who  was  only  God's  servant,  and  the  superiority  of 
His  priesthood  to  that  of  Aaron,  culminates  in  the  proof  that 
He  has  established  a  new  Covenant  betw^een  God  and  man. 

The  Jewish  Christians  had  not  apprehended  the  magnitude 
of  the  change  produced  by  the  mission  of  Christ  in  the  religious 
condition  of  man.  They  had  clung  to  the  old  ritual,  and  the 
development  of  their  Christian  life  had  been  checked.  They 
had  not  understood  that  Christ  had  introduced  new  relations 
between  God  and  man. 

They  were  in  a  condition  not  unlike  that  through  which  our 
own  country  passed  during  the  early  years  of  the  Reformation. 
New  thoughts  were  in  the  hearts  of  men,  but  the  outward  forms 
of  the  decaying  faith  were  still  celebrated.  Our  fathers  did  not 
at  once  perceive  all  the  inevitable  consequences  of  renouncing 
the  authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  and  appealing  to  holy 
Scripture  on  all  questions  of  religious  belief  For  a  time  there 
was  a  chaotic  struggle  between  two  hostile  and  irreconcileable 
forces  for  the  control  of  the  English  people.  It  seemed  at  last 
that,  by  the  cruelties  of  the  Marian  persecutions  and  the  inter- 
course between  the  English  and  Swiss  reformers,  God  had 
"  divided  the   light  from  the  darkness  ;"  but  even  then  the 


2i6  TJie  Testament. 

traditions  of  the  old  faith  continued  to  exert  a  disastrous 
influence  on  the  new. 

The  Jewish  behevers,  at  the  time  this  Epistle  was  written, 
were  passing  through  a  similar  transition.  They  acknowledged 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  but  they  retained  the 
institutions  of  Moses ;  and  there  were  •'  many  thousands  of 
Jews  that  believed  "  who  were  "  all  zealous  of  the  law."  (Acts 
xxi,  20.) 

This  was,  no  doubt,  partly  the  cause  of  the  serious  perils 
which  threatened  their  faith  when  times  of  storm  and  trouble 
came.  They  had  not  learned  to  "walk  by  faith."  They  still 
relied  on  the  external  supports  to  holiness  and  the  visible  aids 
to  devotion,  which  belonged  to  the  ancient  system.  They  had 
not  completely  broken  with  the  national  worship,  and  v/hen 
they  were  required  to  make  a  final  choice  between  the  Church 
and  the  temple,  their  resolution  was  enfeebled  not  merely  by 
fear  of  persecution,  but  by  love  of  the  ancient  customs  and 
ceremonies.  They  would  have  been  saved  from  this,  though 
exposed,  no  doubt,  to  other  dangers,  had  they  seen  from  the 
first,  that  the  use  and  authority  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  had 
passed  away. 

In  the  seventh  chapter,  the  writer  has  intimated  that  since 
the  priesthood  has  been  changed, — the  order  of  Melchizedek 
having  succeeded  to  the  order  of  Aaron, — the  whole  law  is 
necessarily  changed.  In  the  eighth,  he  has  recalled  to  them 
the  prophecy  in  their  own  Scriptures  of  a  new  and  better 
covenant  established  upon  better  promises.  Instead  of  ex- 
ternal laws  and  an  imperfect  revelation  of  the  Divine  character 
and  will,  there  were  to  be  laws  written  in  the  heart  and  a 
universal  knowledge  of  God.  In  the  first  half  of  the  ninth 
chapter,  he  has  shown  that  the  Levitical  sacrifices  which  could 
not  perfect  the  spiritual  consciousness  of  man  by  elevating  it 
into  direct  communion  with  God,  have  given  place  to  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose  blood  purifies  us 
from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God. 

That  sacrifice,  absolutely  unique,  marks  the  close  of  the  old 
dispensation  and  the  beginning  of  the  new.  The  external 
purifications  and  symbolic  atonements  had  given  place  to  an 


The  Testament.  217 

offering  which  cleanses  the  soul  from  all  the  stains  that  ex- 
cluded it  from  the  immediate  presence  of  God. 

The  sacrifice  of  Christ,  therefore,  introduces  a  new  covenant ; 
this  is  the  thought  which  constitutes  the  foundation  of  all  the 
remaining  argument.     Everything  now  rests  on  His  death. 

Keep  this  in  mind,  and  the  perplexities  of  the  rest  of  the 
chapter  will,  I  think,  disappear.  His  death  is  to  the  new 
covenant  between  God  and  man,  what  the  death  of  a  testator 
is  to  the  arrangements  he  has  made  in  his  will  (vv.  16,  17). 
His  blood  is  to  the  new  covenant  what  the  blood  of  the 
sacrifices,  sprinkled  on  the  people  and  on  the  Book  of  the  Law 
when  the  nation  solemnly  accepted  the  Mosaic  institutions, 
and  sprinkled  on  the  tabernacle  and  its  holy  vessels  when  the 
sanctuary  Avas  erected, — was  to  the  old  covenant  (vv.  18-23). 

They  were  to  see  in  Christ's  death  what  they  saw  in  the 
death  of  one  who  had  made  a  testament — the  event  which 
secured  the  inheritance  to  his  heirs.  They  were  to  see  in 
Christ's  blood  what  they  saw  in  the  blood  that  was  sprinkled 
on  the  book  and  on  the  people  at  Sinai,  and  afterwards  on  the 
tabernacle — the  establishment  of  a  covenant  between  God  and 
man,  and  the  establishment  of  a  new  method  and  order  of 
worship.  Christ,  therefore,  does  not  stand  in  the  line  of  the 
prophets  and  pi-iests  of  Judaism.  He  is  not  a  defender,  or 
even  a  reformer  of  the  ancient  system  ;  He  is  not  only 
|)ersonally  greater  than  Moses  and  all  the  supporters  and 
interpreters  of  the  Mosaic  institutions  ;  He  is  "  the  Mediator  of 
a  New  Covenant^''  a  covenant  under  which  they  who  are  called 
are  to  receive  the  eternal  inheritance  ;  and  the  same  sacrifice 
on  which  the  new  dispensation  rests  expiates  all  the  trans- 
gressions committed  under  the  old,  for  a  new  system  could  not 
be  founded  until  a  real  and  effective  atonement  was  made  for 
former  iniquities. 

I  have  given  a  bare  outline  of  the  contents  of  this  passage  ; 
it  will  now  be  necessary  to  examine  it  more  closely. 

Verses  16  and  17  have  been  the  occasion  of  great  perplexity 
to  all  commentators  on  this  Epistle.  The  question  in  dispute 
is,  whether  we  ought  to  interpret  these  verses  as  referring  to  a 
testament,  a  7vi/l ;  or  whether  we  ought  to  retain  the  idea  of  a 


2i8  The  Testament. 

covenant  between  two  consenting  parties.  The  same  Greek 
word  denotes  both.  Up  to  this  point  in  the  argument  of  the 
Epistle  it  hardly  admits  of  dispute,  that  it  ought  to  be  trans- 
lated, not  "  testament,"  but  "  covenant."  Indeed,  I  beheve 
that  in  every  other  passage  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  it 
stands  not  for  "  testament "  but  for  "  covenant."  The  language 
has  therefore  been  strained  and  stretched  to  make  it  bear  the 
same  meaning  in  these  two  verses.  The  "  death  of  the 
testator  "  is  explained  to  be  the  death  of  the  sacrifices  slain  at 
the  ratification  of  a  covenant ;  and  the  testament  being  "  of 
force  after  men  are  dead  "  is  explained  to  mean,  that  not  until 
the  sacrifices  are  slain  is  the  covenant  firmly  established.  I 
cannot  enter  into  the  critical  discussions  which  seem  to  me  to 
render  this  interpretation  altogether  untenable,  but  can  only 
say  that  I  think  no  Greek  scholar  would  resort  to  it,  unless^ 
absolutely  compelled  by  the  context. 

To  my  own  mind,  it  seems  certain  that,  although  the  word 
bears  the  sense  of  "  covenant "  everywhere  else  in  the  Epistle, 
and  everywhere  else  in  the  New  Testament,  it  means  here, 
what  it  means  most  frequently  in  ordinary  Greek  writers, — the 
disposition  or  arrangement  of  property  by  a  testament.  With 
this  meaning  of  the  word  the  Jewish  Christians  would  be 
familiar;  for  although  there  seems  to  have  been  no  power 
under  the  Mosaic  law  for  a  man  to  distribute  his  property  by 
will,  the  customs  of  other  nations,  and  especially  the  Roman 
law,  must  have  made  them  acquainted  with  the  practice,  and  it 
had  no  doubt  become  common  by  this  time  among  themselves. 

But  how  was  it  that  the  inspired  writer  of  this  Epistle 
dropped  for  a  moment  the  meaning  in  which  he  had  been 
using  the  word  up  till  now,  and  adopted  the  other  meaning  ? 
I  think  the  answer  is  not  difficult.  The  ruling  idea  in  his  mind 
at  this  point  in  the  Epistle  is  that  a  new  dispensation  rests  on 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  The  persons  to  whom  he  is  writing  had 
probably  been  humiliated,  as  I  have  shown  in  previous  ser- 
mons, by  the  shameful  circumstances  of  Christ's  death.  He 
wants  to  make  them  feel  that  that  death,  instead  of  being 
forgotten  or  evaded,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  transcendently 
sublime  and  significant  fact.     The  argument  of  the  early  part 


TJic  Testament.  219 

of  the  chapter  has  that  eftect.  He  wants  to  fix  the  truth  firmly 
in  the  conviction  of  the  Jewish  Christians,  and  having  said 
that  under  the  new  covenant  which  rests  on  Christ's  death,  we 
are  "/i?  receive  the  eternal  inheritance  "  the  idea  at  once  occurs 
to  him  that  ordinary  inheritances  rest  also  upon  the  death  of 
those  from  whom  they  are  derived.  He,  therefore,  employs 
the  word  he  has  been  using,  in  its  most  common  secular  mean- 
ing ; — it  is  as  if  he  had  said,  This  death  of  Christ,  of  which  you 
are  ashamed,  from  the  thought  of  which  you  shrink,  is  as 
indispensable  to  the  establishment  of  the  covenant  under 
which  you  are  to  possess  the  everlasting  inheritance,  as  the 
death  of  the  testator  is,  to  the  efficacy  of  the  will  under  which 
his  heirs  possess  their  secular  property — •"  Where  a  testament  is, 
there  must  also  of  necessity  be — brought  in  or  adduced — the  death 
of  the  testator.  For  a  testament  is  of  force  after  men  are  dead, 
otherwise  it  is  of  no  strength  while  the  testator  liveth." 

And  there  is  a  profound  truth  hinted  at  in  the  sudden 
transition  to  this  meaning  of  the  term.  It  is  not  a  mere  play  on 
words.  The  new  relations  between  God  and  man  may  be 
justly  regarded  as  resting  rather  on  a  will  than  on  a  covenant. 
In  a  covenant  there  are  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  on  both  sides. 
The  terms  require  fidelity  from  both  parties.  But  the  in- 
heritance we  hope  for,  hardly  seems  to  depend  on  our  fulfilling 
the  conditions  of  a  proper  covenant.  There  is  no  proportion 
between  what  God  requires  of  us,  and  what  He  intends  to 
bestow.  The  inheritance  is  a  free  gift ;  it  has  to  be  received 
with  gratitude  rather  than  purchased  by  obedience.  It  is  like 
what  comes  to  us  by  the  terms  of  a  will,  rather  than  what  we 
secure  by  fulfilling  the  provisions  of  a  bond. 

And  now,  in  the  eighteenth  verse,  he  returns  to  the  idea  of  a 
covenant.  He  has  still  in  his  mind  the  truth  which  originated 
the  reference  to  a  will, — that  Christ's  death  is  the  foundation  of 
the  new  spiritual  order;  and  he  says  that  in  harmony  with  tliis 
"  the  first  covetiant  7uas  fiot  dedicated  or  inaugurated  without 
blood."  For  the  same  reason  that  a  real  atonement  was 
necessary  to  introduce  the  new  dispensation,  symbolic  atone- 
ments were  necessary  to  introduce  the  old. 


230  The  Testament. 

The  account  given  in  these  verses  of  the  ceremonies  which 
accompanied  the  solemn  ratification  of  the  Mosaic  covenant  is 
much  fuller  than  that  given  in  Exodus  xxiv,  in  which  nothing  is 
said  about  the  sprinkling  of  the  book  with  blood  ;  and  the 
account  of  the  ceremonies  at  the  consecration  of  the  tabernacle 
is  much  fuller  than  that  in  Exodus  xl,  in  which  an  anointing  with 
oil  is  spoken  of,  but  not  a  sprinkling  with  blood.  We  know, 
however,  from  Leviticus  viii,  30,  that  when  Aaron  and  his  sons 
were  consecrated  to  the  priesthood,  blood  was  sprinkled  both 
on  them  and  their  garments.  No  doubt  the  description  given 
in  these  verses  of  the  ritual  on  the  two  occasions  referred  to 
had  come  down  by  tradition,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  the  spirit 
and  provisions  of  the  whole  Levitical  system.  "  Almost  all 
things  were  by  the  la70  purified  with  blood,  and  withoiit  blood 
there  7uas  no  remission." 

When  the  covenant  was  ratified,  and  when  the  tabernacle 
was  consecrated,  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  reminded  the 
Jewish  people  that  there  could  be  no  friendly  relations  estab- 
lished between  them  and  God, — that  they  could  have  no  access 
to  Him, — without  the  acknowledgment  of  sin  on  their  part,  and 
a  merciful  provision  for  pardoning  it  on  His. 

Their  transgressions  would  defile  the  very  sanctuary  in  whicli 
they  worshipped.  It  was  necessary  to  sprinkle  it  with  blood  in 
anticipation  of  their  entrance ;  and,  year  after  year,  blood  was 
shed  again  and  solemnly  applied  to  the  altar  of  incense,  from 
which  the  symbol  of  their  prayer  and  adoration  ascended 
continually  ;  and  blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  very  Holy  of 
Holies  itself.  As  the  condition  of  our  spiritual  access  to  God 
a  better  sacrifice  must  be  slain ;  nobler  blood  must  be  shed. 
We  should  defile  the  invisible  tabernacle  in  which  we  worship, 
the  city  of  the  saints  needing  "  no  temple,  for  the  Lord  God 
Almighty  and  the  Lamb  is  the  temple  of  it " — "  the  heavenly 
places  in  which  we  are  blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in 
Christ"— if  atonement  had  not  been  made  before  we  were 
suffered  to  draw  near  to  God.  The  death  of  Christ  has 
effected  this  atonement.  It  signalises  the  founding  of  a  new 
covenant — the  consecration  of  a  new  sanctuary.  The  heavenly 
world  is  free  to  us  now,  and  we  can  offer,  without  fear,  spiritual 
worship. 


ATONEMENT. 

■'  For  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands,  which  are 
the  figures  of  the  tme  ;  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us.  .  .  .  Now,  where  remission  of  these  is,  there 
is  no  more  offering  for  sin." — Hebews  i.\',  24-x,  iS. 

This  passage  is  most  intimately  connected  with  that  which 
we  considered  last  Sunday  morning.  In  the  fifteenth  verse  of  the 
ninth  chapter,  the  writer  has  declared  that  since  by  the  death 
of  Christ  the  soul  is  cleansed  from  the  impurity  of  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God,  "  Christ  is  the  Mediator  of  a  Ne7ii 
Covenant.'"  This  is  the  root  of  the  whole  series  of  thoughts 
with  which  the  argumentative  part  of  the  Epistle  closes. 

The  sacred  writer  is  evidently  most  anxious  to  fix  in  the 
heart  and  judgment  of  the  Jewish  Christians  this  great  truth, — 
that  the  system  of  Moses,  with  its  laws  and  promises,  with  its 
visible  sanctuary  and  symbolic  ritual,  passed  away  when  Christ 
died.  The  crucifixion,  which  seemed  the  last  disgrace  of  the 
Church,  was  the  foundation  of  all  its  glory  and  of  its  very 
existence.  By  the  death  of  Christ  new  relations  were  established 
between  God  and  man.  His  death,  instead  of  being  a  thing  to 
be  forgotten  or  ashamed  of,  was  like  the  death  of  a  testator,  which 
is  necessary  to  give  force  to  all  the  arrangements  of  his  vrill. 
The  blood  of  Christ  was  like  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  slain  at 
the  solemn  ratification  of  the  Mosaic  covenant,  and  at  the  con- 
secration of  the  tabernacle  to  God's  service ;  it  signalised  and 
confirmed  a  new  covenant  between  God  and  man,  and  has 
given  us  access,  not  to  a  material  sanctuary,  but  to  the 
immediate  presence  of  God.  The  sacrifice  of  Christ  is  final  and 
complete;  there  is  no  need  tliat  it  should  ever  be  repeated. 


222  Atonement. 

As  men  have  to  die  but  once  and  then  to  be  judged,  so 
Christ  had  to  be  offered  but  once ;  and  to  them  that  wait 
for  Him,  He  will  appear  a  second  time,  not  with  the  sins  of 
mankind  upon  him,  but  unto  salvation.  The  constant  repeti- 
tion of  the  ancient  sacrifices,  which  were  but  shadows  of 
heavenly  things,  indicated  that  they  could  not  perfect  the  soul 
by  restoring  it  to  complete  and  abiding  fellowship  with  God. 
Sins  were  recalled  to  mind  every  year ;  "for  it  is  not  possible 
that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins." 
And  then,  two  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  are 
quoted  to  show  that  even  from  the  inspired  books  of  Judaism 
proof  might  be  adduced  that  the  Jewish  sacrifices  gave  no  real 
satisfaction  to  God,  and  that  when  the  New  Covenant  was 
established  a  complete  remission  of  sins  was  to  be  granted,  a 
remission  implying  that  sacrifices  were  no  longer  necessary. 

In  previous  discourses  I  have  had  occasion  to  develope  at 
considerable  length  the  principal  truths  which  are  essential 
to  a  right  understanding  of  this  line  of  thought;  a  verbal 
exposition  of  the  whole  passage  is  therefore  unnecessary.  I 
wish,  however,  to  call  your  attention  to  the  two  passages  from 
the  Old  Testament. 

The  first  is  taken  from  the  fortieth  Psalm  :  the  verses  quoted 
are  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth.  The  sacred  wi'iter  is  not 
careful  to  reproduce  the  exact  words  :  he  takes  the  Septuagint 
translation  as  it  stands,  although  in  one  place,  at  least,  that 
translation  does  not  accurately  represent  the  Hebrew  original. 
If  you  turn  to  our  own  version  of  the  Psalms,  you  will  find  that 
the  sixth  verse  reads,  "  Sacrifice  and  offering  Thou  didst  not 
desire  ;  mine  ears  hast  Thou  opened :''''  in  this  Epistle  it  reads  as 
it  stands  in  the  Ixx.,  "  Sacrifice  and  offering  Thou  wouldst  not, 
hut  a  body  hast  Thou  prepared  for  me."  We  need  not  inquire 
how  it  was  that  this  singular  change  in  the  form  of  the 
expression  found  its  way  into  the  Ixx ;  whether  it  was  a  mistake 
of  the  translators,  or  whether  the  change  in  the  image  was 
intentional,  or  whether  in  the  Hebrew  text  which  they 
used  there  was  a  different  reading.  What  is  interesting  to  us  is, 
that  here  is  a  text  from  the  Old  Testament,  quoted  inaccurately, 


Atonement.  223 

so  far  as  the  mere  words  are  concerned,  by  an  inspired  -wTiter 
in  the  New.  But  is  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  quotation 
affected  ?  Not  in  the  least.  The  writer  quotes  the  passage  in 
its  true  meaning,  though  he  does  not  take  the  trouble  to  change 
the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  which  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Jews  at  that  time,  into  more  exact  agreement  with 
the  Hebrew  text.  Now,  if  he  had  believed  himself,  if  he  had 
been  anxious  that  others  should  believe,  that  the  mere  words  of 
the  Psalm  were  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  do  you  not  think 
he  would  have  been  careful  to  rectify  the  translation  and  bring 
it  into  stricter  harmony  with  the  original  text  ?  Does  not  his 
mode  of  quotation  show  that  he  cared  for  the  thought,  not  for 
the  exact  form  in  which  the  thought  was  expressed  ? 

That  the  principal  thought  of  the  passage  is  preserved, 
notwithstanding  the  difference  of  the  form,  will  be  apparent  on 
a  moment's  consideration.  In  the  Psalm  it  is  said  that  sacrifices 
and  offerings  were  not  what  God  desired,  but  "  mine  ears  hast 
Thou  opened^'' — Thou  hast  made  me  understand  the  true  spirit 
and  meaning  of  thy  law; — ''  Lo,  I  come  to  do  Thy  wilt,  O  GodT 
In  other  words — Obedience  is  more  acceptable  than  sacrifice. 
In  the  Epistle  it  is  said,  Sacrifices  and  offerings  are  not  what 
God  requires,  but  "«  body  hast  Thou  prepared  for  7Jie" — Thou 
hast  given  me  the  nature  of  a  man,  of  a  creature, — that  is,  that 
I  may  keep  Thy  holy  law, — "  Lo,  I  come  to  do  Thy  linll,  O 
God."  In  other  words — Obedience  is  more  acceptable  than 
sacrifice. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  Psalm  to  indicate  that  it  was 
anything  more  than  an  inspired  utterance  of  David's  personal 
gratitude  and  devotion  to  God.  It  does  not  contain,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  word,  a  Messianic  prophecy.  The  words, 
"  in  the  volume  of  the  Booti  it  is  written  of  me"  which  give  the 
impression  that  the  speaker  is  a  person  of  whom  prophecy  had 
spoken,  do  not  exactly  represent  the  idea  of  the  psalmist.  He 
means,  I  think,  to  say,  that  his  doing  the  will  of  God  was  what 
was  prescribed  to  him  in  the  inspired  Scriptures.  The  force  of 
the  quotation  lies  in  this,  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  virtually  says 
to  the  Jewish  Christians — You  need  not  be  alarmed  or  shocked 


224  Atonement. 

when  I  tell  you  that  the  death  of  Christ  has  abolished  and 
superseded  the  ancient  sacrifices  of  your  law.  Venerable  as  are 
the  institutions  of  Moses,  and  sacred  as  are  the  associations 
which  cluster  round  the  altar  and  the  priest, — when  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  establish  a  new  covenant  with  a  nobler 
and  more  spiritual  worship.  His  purpose  is  exactly  expressed  in 
one  of  your  own  Psalms.  He  proclaims  no  heresy  in  affirming 
that  your  ancient  ceremonial  is  morally  valueless.  He  say.s 
nothing  more  than  had  been  said  by  David  himself,  writing 
under  Divine  inspiration.  The  germ,  the  principle,  of  this 
doctrine,  which  some  of  you  are  ready  to  think  a  blasphemous 
insult  to  Moses  and  to  God  Himself  from  whom  the  Mosaic 
system  derived  its  sanction,  is  to  be  found  in  your  own 
Scriptures.  David  declared  that  God  had  no  pleasure  in  burnt- 
offerings  and  sin-offerings,  and  that  what  God  cared  for  was 
obedience.  This  is  the  exact  expression  of  Christ's  own 
doctrine.  ^'^  He  taketh  away  the  first,  that  He  7nay  establish  the 
second r 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  we  should  understand  the 
manner  in  which  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  appeal  to 
the  Old.  They  find  in  the  ancient  Scriptures  germs  of  truth, 
undeveloped  principles,  glimpses  of  something  more  glorious 
than  the  psalmists  and  prophets  themselves  perceived,  elemen- 
tary illustrations  of  the  deepest  laws  of  God's  government;  and 
they  quote  these  passages  to  illustrate  the  work  and  confirm  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  David  saw  that  holiness  was  better  than 
burnt-offerings,  that  if  his  own  life  were  regulated  by  the  Divine 
will,  that  would  be  more  acceptable  to  God  than  the  blood  of 
the  appointed  sacrifices  ;  and  though  it  cannot  be  affirmed  that 
he  anticipated  the  sublime  illustration  of  this  princi|)le  in  the 
obedience  and  submission  to  Ciod's  will  of  die  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  principle  itself  had  been  asserted  by  him,  and  to 
this  the  New  Testament  writer  appeals. 

It  is  not  merely  in  the  direct  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment that  the  thoughtful  Christian  will  recognise  "  the  shadow 
of  heavenly  things;"  he  will  find  simple  lessons  on  the  highest 
spiritual  truths  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  and  the  sorrows 


A  toncment. 


■11^ 


and  hopes  of  the  psahiiists ;  just  as  Sir  Isaac  Ncvton  is  said 
to  have  first  recognised  in  the  fall  of  an  apple  the  law  which 
guides  the  motion  of  the  planets,  and  sustains  the  harmonies 
of  the  universe ;  just  as  the  student  of  the  most  difficult 
questions  of  philosophy  will  recall  some  of  the  experiences  of 
his  childhood,  as  affording  the  earliest  illustrations  of  the  most 
remarkable  and  subtle  laws  of  man's  intellectual  activity. 

Christ  has  abolished  the  ancient  sacrifices,  and  established  in 
their  place  His  own  obedience  to  the  Divine  will.  And  by  the 
Divine  will  we  are  sanctified — cleansed — all  hindrances  to  our 
access  to  God  are  removed  '■^through  the  offering  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ,  once  for  aJ/."  Every  priest  stands  ministering 
to  God  day  by  day,  and  repeating  continually  the  same  in- 
effectual sacrifices  ;  but  this  Priest,  "  having  offered  one  sacrifice 
for  sins,  sat  down  for  ever  on  the  right  hand  of  God ;"  the  com- 
pletion of  His  atoning  work  is  suggested  by  the  very  contrast 
between  his  own  attitude  and  that  of  the  merely  human  and 
symbolic  priesthood  :  and  henceforth  He  is  "  waitifig  till  His 
enemies  be  made  His  footstool.'''  '■'■For  by  one  offering  He  hath 
perfected  for  ever  them  that  arc  sanctified^''  has  given  them  an 
everlasting  access  to  God. 

The  second  passage  from  the  Old  Testament  occurs  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  verses ;  it  is  taken  from  Jeremiah 
xxxi,  33-34,  and  has  already  been  appealed  to  for  another  pur- 
pose, in  the  eighth  chapter  of  this  Epistle.  There  the  writer 
quoted  it  to  show  that  a  new  covenant  had  been  foretold  by 
the  Jewish  prophets.  Here,  the  emphasis  of  the  quotation  is 
on  the  closing  words  :  after  that  it  had  been  said  before,  "■  This 
is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  them  after  those  days,  saith 
the  Lord,  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  hearts,  and  on  their  minds 
will  I  turite  them ;"  it  also  said,  ^'' their  sins  and  their  iniquities 
will  I  remember  no  more^  The  prophecy  had  intimated  that  in 
connection  with  the  New  Covenant  there  v/as  to  be  a  complete 
forgiveness  of  transgressions ;  and  this  ir.iplied  that  sacrifices 
were  to  cease ;  the  calling  of  sins  to  remembrance  every  year, 
as  on  the  day  of  atonement,  would  be  no  longer  necessary : 
"  Wiicre  remission  of  these  is  there  is  no  longer  offering  for  sin." 

Strangely  enough,  some  of  those  who  deny  the  expiatory 

Q 


226  Atonement. 

character   of    the    sufferings  of   the  Lord   Jesus  Christ   have 
ventured  to  appeal  to  the  quotation  from  the  fortieth  Psahii  on 
behalf  of  their  theory  of  the  nature  and  purpose  of  His  work. 
One  of  the  most  distinguished  representatives  of  this  school  of 
theology  has  maintained  that  according  to  the  teaching  of  this 
part  of  the  Epistle  Christ  did  not  come  to  offer  "figurative 
ceremonial  sacrifices,"  which  may  be  readily  granted,  "  but  to  • 
perform  solid  substantial  obedience  in  all  acts  of  usefulness  and 
beneficence  to  mankind,  by  which  He  became  a  High  Priest 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  ■" — that  "  the  blood  of  Christ, 
or  that  by  which  he  has  bought  us,  is  His  love  and  goodness  to 
men  and  obedience  to  God,  exercised,  indeed,  throughout  the 
whole  of  His  humiliation  on  earth,  but  most  eminently  exliibited 
in  His  death."     And  it  is  alleged  that  God,   on  account  of 
Christ's  "goodness  or  perfect  obedience  so  highly  pleasing  to 
Him,  thought  fit  to  grant  unto  mankind,  whom  he  might  in  strict 
justice  have  destroyed  for  their  sin  and  wickedness,  the  forgive- 
ness of  sin,"  etc.     And  it  is  further  maintained  that  God  delivers 
us  from  guilt  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  because  it  is  the  most 
powerful  means  of  freeing  us  from  the  pollution  and  power  of 
sin  ;    and  that  it  is  the  ground  of  redemption  as  being  the 
means  of  sanctification. 

This  theory,  while  conceding  that  it  is  because  of  Christ  tliat 
God  pardons  the  iniquity  of  mankind,  eliminates  the  atoning 
element  altogether  from  the  agonies  of  Gethsemane  and  the 
death  on  tlie  cross  ;  represents  the  immediate  object  of  Christ's 
earthly  mission  as  simple  obedience  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Divine  law,  and  excludes  all  recognition  of  His  voluntary  sub- 
mission for  our  sake  to  its  penalty ;  maintains  that  God  forgives 
the  sins  of  mankind  through  Christ,  not  because  Christ  made 
expiation  for  our  sins  by  submitting  to  undeserved  suffering, 
but  to  demonstrate  the  Divine  approval  of  Christ's  holy  life 
and  patient  death  ;  it  contends  that  we  have  redeniption 
through  the  blood  of  Christ,  not  because  His  sufferings  were 
the  foundation  of  a  new  moral  constitution  under  which  the 
just  and  holy  God  can  freely  pardon  our  most  grievous  offences, 
but  because  the  transforming  power  of  Christ's  bright  example 


Atonement.  227 

ajid  the  pathetic  argument  of  His  love,  cleanse,  renew,  and 
ennoble  our  character  and  life. 

It  was  a  daring  policy  for  any  defender  of  a  theor}^  like  this 
to  attempt  to  sustain  it  on  a  passage  taken  from  this  Epistle  ; 
no  great  acuteness  is  necessary  to  demonstrate  that  the  appeal 
is  as  presumptuous  as  it  is  "bold. 

The  quotation  from  the  Psalm  is  plainly  made  for  the  purpose 
of  shewing  that  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures  themselves,  there  was 
l)iioof  that  the  Levitical  sacrifices  and  offerings  had  no  real 
\-alue  in  God's  sight ;  that  the  Christian  doctrine  that  the  blood 
of  bulls  and  of  goats  cannot  take  away  sins,  is  in  harmony 
with  the  teaching  of  the  ancient  .books ;  that  Christ  in 
abolishing  the  symbolical  ritual  might  have  used  David's  words, 
— that  to  do  God's  will  is  better  than  to  offer  bulls  and  goats. 
\\\  using  this  language,  as  Christ  virtually  did.  He  pronounced 
tlie  abolition  of  the  ancient  service,  and  the  introduction  of 
something  nobler  in  its  place.  But,  as  if  to  prevent  the  very 
mistake  into  which  the  ad\^ocates  of  this  theory  have  fallen, 
the  writer  of  the  Epistle  does  not  pause  when  he  has  said  this  ; 
it  might  then  have  been  inferred  that  the  holy  life  of  Christ, 
His  doing  God's  Avill,  had  really  accomplished  all  that  to  which 
tlie  symbolic  sacrifices  had  pointed;  and  therefore  he  adds, 
tliat  by  the  will  of  God,  we  are  purified,  cleansed  from  sin, 
obtain  the  removal  of  whatever  hindered  our  worship  and 
devout  service,  "/^v  the  offering  of  the  bo(fy  of  Christ,  onee 
for  atir 

He  rises  from  that  general  obedience  to  the  Divine  will, 
which  is  better  than  all  the  Levitical  offerings,  to  the  special 
and  supreme  proof  of  Christ's  submission  to  the  Father.  Not 
to  the  general  obedience,  but  to  the  "  offering"  of  Himself  as 
a  sacrifice,  does  the  Avriter  ascribe  that  freedom  of  the  soul  to 
worship  God  which  had  been  provided  for  symbolically  by  tlie 
rites  of  the  ancient  system. 

But,  even  apart  from  this  direct  and  unambiguous  protection 
of  the  meaning  of  the  passage  from  mistake,  the  Avhole  Epistle 
is  an  answer  to  the  theory. 

Throughout  this  great  argument,  which  we  have  examined 
together,  there  is  no  attempt  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  insti- 


228  Atonement. 

tutions  of  Moses  over  the  heart  and  imagination  of  the  Jewish 
behevers,  by  representing  the  sacrificial  system  as  a  mischievous 
superstition.  The  ancient  ritual  is  honoured  as  a  Divine  ordi- 
nance. Shadows  of  heavenly  things  are  recognised  in  the 
temple,  the  altar,  the  atonement,  and  the  priest.  If  Christ 
came  to  establish  the  second  covenant,  it  is  admitted  that 
Moses  was  divinely  commissioned  to  establish  the  first.  The 
Christian  faith  is  exhibited  throughout,  as  the  clear  and  substan- 
tial revelation  of  what  Judaism  had  revealed  only  imperfectly. 
The  language  of  the  old  faith  is  employed  to  teach  the 
doctrines  of  the  new. 

What  ideas,  then,  did  the  Jews  connect  with  the  sin-offerings 
which  were  presented  every  year  on  the  great  day  of  atone- 
ment ?  Was  there  no  laying  of  the  sins  of  the  people  on  the 
head  of  the  sacrifices?  Was  it  imagined  that  the  benefit, 
whatever  that  may  have  been,  derived  from  the  service,  was  a 
kind  of  reward  for  the  symbolic  purity  of  the  ofterings  ?  "Was 
the  infliction  of  death,  was  the  sprinkling  of  blood,  a  sulior- 
dinate  part  of  the  ritual  ?  I  had  occasion,  in  a  previous  sermon, 
to  explain  the  probable  significance  of  that  great  day  to  a 
devout  Jew,  and  so  have  anticipated  the  answer  to  these 
enquiries. 

And  is  there  any  hint  in  this  Epistle  that  we  obtain  forgive- 
ness simply  because  God  is  well  pleased  with  the  obedience  of 
His  beloved  Son  ?  Does  not  all  the  doctrine,  all  the  imagery, 
compel  us  to  believe  that  it  was  not  the  holiness  of  Christ  alone, 
but  His  death,  which  opened  the  way  of  access  to  God  ?  He 
is  a  High  Priest  whose  intercession  is  mighty,  not  merely 
because  of  the  purity  of  His  robes,  but  because  of  the  blood 
of  His  sacrifice.  He  is  a  Sacrifice ;  and  although  the  ancient 
ofterings  had  to  be  without  blemish,  or  they  could  not  be  slain 
in  God's  tabernacle  and  presented  on  God's  altar,  it  was  not 
their  symbolic  perfection,  but  their  blood,  which  effected 
symbohc  atonement  for  sin;  and  although  Christ  could  not 
have  made  expiation  for  us  without  personal  holiness,  it  was 
not  His  holiness,  but  His  sufferings,  which  made  the  expiation. 
It  is  His  death  which  gives  validity  to  the  "testament"  and 
ratifies  the  "  covenant ;"  His  blood,  v/hich  cleanses  the  heavenly 


Atonement.  229 

sanctuary,  and  purifies  us  to  serve  the  li\ing  God.  If  it 
can  be  proved  that  the  writer  who  used  this  language  and  these 
metaphors  meant  to  say  that  God's  approbation  of  Christ's 
moral  perfection  is  the  ground  on  which  God  pardons  our  sin, 
1  decline  to  attach  to  his  teaching  the  authority  of  inspiration, 
I  decline  to  acknowledge  in  him  any  claim  to  my  intellectual 
respect ;  he  is  utterly  destitute  of  the  power  to  convey  his  own 
thoughts,  and  can  have  no  right  to  govern  mine. 

But  perhaps  he  is  humouring  the  theological  error  of  the 
Jewish  believers,  and  talks  of  sacrifice  and  priesthood,  not 
because  there  is  anything  in  Christianity  really  corresponding 
to  what  the  Jews  meant  by  these  words,  but  because  the  words 
themselves,  though  used  by  him  in  a  different  meaning,  would 
be  very  pleasant  to  his  readers,  especially  to  those  who  might 
not  happen  to  discover  that  the  ideas  they  had  always  repre- 
sented had  altogether  vanished.  If  it  be  so,  then  I  have  only 
to  say  that  a  writer  who  intentionally  uses  sacred  words  in  a 
"non-natural  sense"  is  a  cheat  and  an  impostor,  whether  he 
belongs  to  the  first  century  or  to  the  nineteenth.  In  the  world 
of  thought  he  occupies  the  same  position  as  the  man  who 
jjasses  bad  sovereigns  or  a  forged  cheque  in  the  Avorld  of  com- 
merce. He  deserves  contempt,  not  confidence.  Instead  of 
honouring  him  as  a  great  teacher,  I  must  despise  him  as  a 
dishonest  man. 

But  there  is  no  excuse  for  this  insulting  slander  on  the  writer 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  It  is  plain  he  does  not  use  the 
old  words  as  a  blind ;  he  uses  them  in  their  old  sense.  Every 
link  in  his  argument  gives  way,  if  you  deprive  these  words  of 
their  ordinary  meaning ;  and  the  whole  structure  of  his  thought, 
instead  of  being  most  consistent,  harmonious,  and  intelligible, 
becomes  a  confused  and  irrational  chaos. 

Nor  is  it  in  this  Epistle  alone,  or  when  the  apostles  are 
arguing  with  their  ovv-n  countrymen,  that  they  insist  on  the 
expiatory  character  of  the  death  of  Christ. 

To  the  Church  at  Rome  Paul  wrote  that  "  God  hath  set  forth 
Christ  to  be  a  propitiation  (through  faith)  in  His  blood,  for  the 
remission  of  sins ;"  to  the  Corinthians,  that  "  God  hath  made 
Him    to  be  sin  for  us    who  knew   no  sin,  that     we    might 


230  Atonement. 

be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  through  Him;"  to  tlie 
Ephesians,  that  "we  have  redemption  through  His  blood, 
even  the  forgiveness  of  sins;"  to  the  Thessalonians,  that 
"  Christ  died  for  us ;"  to  Timothy,  that  "  Christ  gave  Himself  a 
ransom  for  all."  Peter  declares  that  Christ  "  bare  our  sins  in 
His  own  body  on  the  tree ;"  suffered  "the  just  for  the  unjust." 
John  gives  glory  to  Him  who  has  "washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  His  own  blood." 

In  heaven  itself,  where,  I  suppose,  there  can  be  no  longer 
any  need  to  humour  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews,  they  sing  a 
new  song,  saying,  "Thou  wast  slain  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  Thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people,  and  nation." 

Speculate  on  it  how  we  may,  the  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  presented  to  us  in  the  new  I'estament  as  the  ever- 
lasting reason  of  every  happy  relation  between  sinful  man  and 
the  moral  government  of  God. 

The  conscience  bows  before  the  cross  and  is  at  peace,  even 
Nvhen  the  intellect  is  baffled  and  defeated  in  the  attempt  to  con- 
struct a  theory  of  the  atonement.  "When  we  were  yet  sinners, 
Christ  died  for  us,"  is  the  answer  to  the  deepest  and  most 
agonizing  distress  of  the  heart ;  and  the  theology  which  ignores 
or  evades  this  truth  can  claim  neither  to  be  in  harmony  with 
the  faith  of  the  apostles  nor  to  interpret  the  grandest  and  most 
awful  facts  of  the  spiritual  universe. 


THE     GREAT     APPEAL. 

"Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest,  by  tlie  blood 
of  Jesus,"  &c. — Hebrews  x,  19-39. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  series  of  discourses,  I 
reminded  you,  that  although  the  temptations  and  difficulties  of 
our  Christian  life  are  very  different  from  those  which  imperilled 
the  fidelity  and  constancy  of  the  Jewish  believers,  we,  like 
them,  may  be  in  danger  of  falling  away  from  Christ  after  we 
have  been  "  once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of  the  heavenly 
gift,"  and  have  been  "  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  At 
this  very  moment  some  of  us  may  be  drifting  back  into  v/orld- 
liness,  as  they  were  drifting  back  into  Judaism.  Like  them 
we  may  be  "  neglecting  the  great  salvation."  The  same  argu- 
ments, though  in  a  different  form, — the  same  appeals, — the 
same  warnings, — may  be  necessary  to  renew  and  strengthen  our 
faith  in  Christ,  to  quicken  our  spiritual  affections,  to  awaken 
our  alarm. 

And  now  that  the  great  demonstration  is  closed,  of  the 
inferiority  and  inefficacy  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  the  glory  and 
permanence  of  the  new  covenant,  Ave  have  arrived  at  a  suc- 
cession of  practical  exhortations  and  an  impassioned  appeal, 
having  as  great  a  value  for  ourselves,  as  for  the  Churches  of 
Palestine  in  the  primitive  age. 

In  the  passage  on  which  I  have  to  speak  this  morning,  we 
have  the  judgment  of  an  inspired  writer  on  the  solemn  ques- 
tions which  some  of  us  have  had  occasion  to  consider; — Plow 
can  I  renew  and  recover  the  intensity  of  my  earlier  Christian 
life  ?  How  can  I  arrest  the  progress  of  spiritual  decay  ?  How 
can  I  escape  from  the  miserable,  and  guilty,  antl  perilous 
indifference  into  which  I  have  permitted  myself  to  sink?     How 


22,2  The  Great  Appeal. 

can  I  make  way  against  the  strong  tide  which  is  drifting  me 
to  destruction  ? 

There  are  three  distinct  duties  to  be  at  once  discharged,  and 
there  are  startUng  and  affecting  motives  to  sustain  us  in  the 
endeavour  to  return  to  a  better  hfe. 


I. 

(i)  The  persons  to  whom  the  Epistle  is  addressed  are 
directed,  first  of  all,  to  '■^  draw  7iear"  to  God.  It  has  been 
shown  that  sinful  men  have  free  access — not  to  a  mere  material 
temple — but  to  the  immediate  presence  of  God,  through  the 
I>ord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Holy  of  Holies  was  but  the  symbol 
of  the  heavenly  sanctuary,  which  is  now  open  to  all  mankind. 
The  blood  of  Christ  has  really  atoned  for  the  sins  which  exclu- 
ded man  from  the  Divine  presence.  There  is  "a  new  and 
living  way"  to  the  Father.  The  courts  of  the  visible  sanctuary 
were  constructed  of  inanimate  material  things,  of  costly  wood, 
and  richly  embroidered  curtains ;  but  it  is  through  Christ 
Himself  that  we  draw  near  to  God.  The  death  of  His  body 
was  like  the  rending  of  the  veil  which  secluded  the  Holy  of 
Holies  from  all  approach  (v.  20);  external  baptism  (v.  22)  is 
the  sign  that  we  are  members  of  a  race  whose  iniquities  need 
no  longer  separate  them  from  God  \  and  the  blood  of  Christ,  if 
its  power  and  virtue  are  inwardly  acknowledged,  delivers  us 
from  the  fear  and  dread  connected  with  the  consciousness  of 
sin ;  and  we  ought  to  " draw  near  luith  a  true  heart" — a  heart 
free  from  all  insincerit)'-,  Avilling  neither  to  deceive  itself,  nor  to 
deceive  God, — and  "  with  full  assurance  of  faith" — trusting 
confidently  in  the  Divine  mercy  and  love. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  judgment  should  be  convinced  of 
the  reality  and  transcendent  greatness  of  the  blessings  conferred 
upon  man  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  An  intellectual  belief, 
however  intelligent,  however  firm,  will  not  have  sufiicient 
strength  to  stand  severe  and  protracted  trials  such  as  threatened 
the  Jewish  Church  ;  the  soul  must  enter  into  the  actual 
possession  of  the  prerogatives  and  joys  which  are  the  inherit- 
ance of  all  who  believe.     The  abstract  creed  must  be  rooted 


TJic  Great  Appeal.  233 

in  the  experience  of  the  heart  as  well  as  in  the  logic  of  the 
intellect,  if  it  is  to  remain  firm  and  strong. 

This  is  the  general  truth  which  seems  implied  in  this  exhor- 
tation. It  would  be  useless  to  prove  that  men  have  access  to 
God  through  Christ,  unless  those  who  were  convinced  of  the 
truth  drew  near  to  God.  Unless  the  intellectual  conviction 
were  translated  into  a  spiritual  act,  the  mere  belief  would  soon 
pass  away.  The  impression  of  the  argument  would  be  lost,  if 
not  deepened  and  perpetuated  by  the  consciousness  of  the  soul. 

A  truth  this,  of  infinite  importance.  We  ourselves  are  pas- 
sing through  times  of  speculative  unbelief  as  well  as  of  spiritual 
indifference.  Learned  argument  is  necessary  to  convince  the 
understanding  of  the  Divine  mission  and  nature  of  Christ,  but 
the  faith  of  Christendom  will  perish  unless  the  truth  is  sustained 
by  the  testimony  of  the  inner  spiritual  life.  You  may  prove 
that  this  book  contains  a  Divine  revelation,  but  it  is  very 
possible  that  the  proof  may  go  for  nothing  and  the  belief  it 
produces  perish,  unless  by  the  devout  study  of  these  sacred 
pages  the  conscience  and  the  heart  come  to  discover  that  a 
voice  of  mighty  and  mysterious  power  speaks  through  the 
writings  of  prophets,  psalmists,  evangelists,  and  apostles.  You 
may  prove  that  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  atonement  was  m^ade 
for  human  sin,  but  nothing  can  infallibly  perpetuate  a  full 
assurance  of  this  great  doctrine,  except  the  consciousness  that 
through  Christ's  death  the  soul  is  enabled  to  speak  to  God 
without  fear.  If  the  creed,  no  matter  how  orthodox,  is  sepa- 
rated from  a  vigorous  and  healthy  spiritual  life,  no  logic,  no 
learning,  can  prevent  it  from  perishing  :  unless  it  brings  forth 
fruit  it  is  cast  forth  as  a  branch,  it  withers,  it  is  burned.  Having 
demonstrated  that  by  the  death  of  Christ  we  have  access  to 
<^iod,  the  inspired  writer  endeavours  to  rivet  and  secure  the 
conviction  he  has  produced,  by  saying,  "  Ld  us  draw  near." 

This  exhortation  should  be  most  gratefully  received  by  all 
who  are  conscious  that  they  have  permitted  their  religious  life 
to  sink  into  feebleness.  To  "  draw  near'"  to  God  is  not  only 
possible  to  them  still — it  is  their  immediate  duty.  The  blood 
of  Christ  will  deliver  them  from  terror.  When  they  stand  in 
the  Divine  presence  they  will  see  by  their  side  '■'■the  great  Priest'' 


234  I'J^c  Great  Appeal. 

who  has  atoned  for  their  sins  and  ever  hvet]"i  to  make  interces- 
sion for  them.  Remember  that  these  words  were  expressly- 
addressed  to  those  who  had  been  sharply  rebuked  and  sternly 
warned.  They  are  especially  for  you,  who  have  just  discovered 
that,  though  you  once  believed,  you  have  now  an  evil  heart  of 
unbelief,  and  that  you  have  begun  to  depart  from  the  living 
God.  Their  direct  appeal  is  not  to  those  Avho  have  served 
(iod  faithfully,  but  to  those  who  are  in  danger  of  apostatising 
from  Christ  altogether. 

And  if  it  be  still  possible  for  you  to  approach  God,  how 
strong  are  the  reasons  that  should  induce  you  to  do  it !  You 
greatly  need  His  pardon.  Your  sins  are  more  grievous  than 
the  sins  you  confessed  when  you  came  to  him  first,  and  if  they 
remain  unforgiven,  they  will  involve  you  in  a  more  appalling 
destruction  than  that  which  you  first  sought  to  escape.  You 
greatly  need  the  power  of  His  Spirit  to  invigorate  your  religious, 
life  :  it  is  not  yet  impossible  to  renew  you  to  repentance ;  but 
where  love  to  Christ  has  been  overborne  by  the  love  of  pleasure,, 
where  thirst  for  communion  with  God  has  been  deadened  by 
the  passion  for  wealth,  where  zeal  for  the  Divine  glory  has  been 
([uenched  by  sluggishness  and  sin,  the  difficulty  of  delivering 
the  soul  from  its  shameful  and  guilty  relapse  is  manifestly  great,, 
and  it  increases  every  day. 

'■'■  Dra7V  near  io  God"  then;  though  you  find  it  almost  im- 
possible to  pray.  "Draw  near  io  God"  though  all  the  joy  of 
communion  with  Him  has  gone,  and  your  only  feeling  is  that  of 
almost  intolerable  shame  and  self-contempt.  "Draw  near  to 
God,"  though  you  feel  as  though  even  He  could  not  recover 
you  from  the  entanglements  of  sin  and  give  you  the  spiritual 
freedom  which  you  once  possessed.  Even  for  you,  the  blood 
of  the  great  Sacrifice  has  atoned ;  and  the  intercession  of  the 
great  Priest  will  be  effectual  for  you. 

[2^  These  vacillating  Jewish  believers  are  directed  to  "  hoiJ 
fast  the  profession,  of"  their  "  Jiope  without  wavering." 

Prayer  would  not  be  enough,  without  the  firm  and  energetic 
resolve  "to  hold  fast"  that  which  they  professed.  They  had 
once  exulted  in  the  anticipation  of  a  glorious  future.     They 


Tlic  Great  Appeal.  235 

h.id  confessed  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  come  to  confer 
oil  men,  not  a  mere  earthly  inheritance,  but  everlasting  blessed- 
ness and  splendour. 

But  their  hope  had  been  slipping  from  their  grasp.  No 
longer  were  they  eagerly  waiting  for  the  hour  when  Christ 
should  appear  with  glittering  armies  of  angels  and  with  the 
sainted  dead  in  robes  of  white.  No  longer  did  they  antici- 
pate with  rapture  their  entrance  through  the  gates  of  pearl 
and  their  abode  in  the  mansions  which  Christ  had  gone 
to  prepare  for  all  that  love  Him.  The  clear  vision  of  the  ever 
brightening  splendours  of  immortality  no  longer  made  them,  forget 
shame  and  suffering  and  danger.  Dense  clouds  had  settled  on 
their  future,  and  without  the  inspiration  it  had  once  afforded, 
the  struggles  and  persecutions  of  their  Christian  life  had 
become  intolerable. 

Their  former  hope  must  be  grasped  again,  and  the  confession 
of  it  boldly  maintained.  In  happy  song,  in  exulting  halle- 
lujahs, they  must  declare  once  more  that  they  cling  still  to  the 
])romises  of  God. 

'■^  For  He  is  fait/iful  that  promised."  One  is  tempted  to  turn 
aside  from  the  main  current  of  the  thought  to  linger  on  these 
l)leasant  words,  just  as  in  travelling  through  some  strange 
countr)-'  one  is  sometimes  induced  to  interrupt  a  journey  for  a 
day  or  two,  attracted  by  the  peace  and  beauty  of  some  quiet 
valley,  and  tempted  to  explore  all  its  loveliness. 

In  a  very  obvious  and  legitimate  sense  the  whole  of  Divine 
revelation  is  a  promise.  That  God  should  have  manifested 
Mimself  by  supernatural  methods  to  man  at  all,  is  an  indication 
that  he  has  not  cast  us  off  because  of  our  transgressions,  and 
that  all  hope  is  not  yet  destroyed.  He  spoke  to  man  as  soon 
as  man  had  sinned,  to  prevent  despair ;  and  all  that  He  has  re- 
vealed of  Himself  encourages  our  confidence.  "  They  that 
know  Thy  name  v/ill  put  their  trust  in  Thee." 

The  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  is  a  promise ;  it  assures  us 
that  God  has  become  man  to  save  us  from  sin.  The  doctrine 
of  the  Atonement  is  a  promise  ;  it  explains  the  grounds  on 
which  God  grants  the  pardon  of  sin.  The  doctrine  of  Justifi- 
cation  is  a  promise  that  the  penalty  of  sin  may  be  cancelled  ; 


236  TJic  Great  Appeal. 

the  doctrine  of  Sanctification,  that  the  power  of  sin  may  be 
destroyed. 

The  very  narratives  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  are 
promises  ;  the  past  is  recalled  to  fill  the  future  with  peace  and 
joy.  God's  fidelity  to  Abraham,  His  providence  over  Joseph, 
His  mercy  to  David,  His  amazing  forbearance  with  the  Jewish 
race, — are  all  reasons  and  arguments  for  trusting  in  Him. 

The  very  laws  of  Gods  are  promises.  Laws  are  not  given  to 
the  lost,  but  only  to  those  who  can  either  obey  them,  or  who 
are  to  be  led  by  a  sense  of  their  sinfulness  to  appeal  to  the 
Divine  mercy  for  pardon  and  salvation.  That  God  tells  us  hov/ 
to  live,  proves  that  he  still  cares  for  our  obedience ;  nay.  His 
precepts  indicate,  not  so  much  the  measure  of  the  strength 
to  obey  Him  that  we  naturally  possess,  as  the  measure  of  the 
help  which  he  intends  to  afford  to  our  obedience.  "  Thy 
statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the  house  of  my  pilgrimage." 

But  look  at  those  passages  in  Holy  Scripture  which  are  pro- 
perly called  Promises.  They  are  so  numerous  that  when 
collected  they  make  a  volume.  Read  every  one  of  them,  re- 
membering that  "  He  is  faif/if III  that  promised." 

Read  them,  remembering  that  t/iey  are  meant  to  he  fulfilled. 
Of  course  this  is  implied  in  the  very  form  of  a  promise  ;  but  if 
I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  this  is  not  always  heartily  believed, 
even  by  very  good  people  ;  and  with  many  of  us,  the  inoments 
are  comparatively  infrequent,  when  we  really  expect  God  to  be 
'■'faithful."  Is  it  not  true  that,  sometimes,  even  in  great 
trouble,  we  read  the  most  precious  promises  in  Holy  Scripture, 
just  as  we  read  pleasant  poems,  to  tranquillize  and  soothe  our 
agitated  hearts  by  their  mere  music  and  sweetness  ? 

The  very  idea  of  rest  is  a  refreshment  to  the  weary,  the 
mere  dream  of  conquest  over  sin  is  a  solace  to  those  who  are 
wretched  under  defeat,  the  bare  conception  of  perfect  holiness, 
and  of  abiding  for  ever  in  God,  has  a  purifying  and  elevating 
influence  on  the  sinful  soul.  "  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord, 
and  He  shall  sustain  thee  :"  there  is  strength  in  the  thought  of 
that — quite  apart  from  the  expectation  of  receiving  actual 
support.  "  The  Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  shield ;  the  Lord  will 
give  grace  and  glory;  no  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from  tliem 


The  Great  Appeal.  237 

tliat  Avalk  uprightly ;" — words  like  these  make  the  heart  leap 
and  sing,  even  when  there  is  no  definite  and  firm  confidence 
that  they  will  be  actually  fulfilled.  But  it  is  shameful  unbelief 
to  think  that  God  will  not  keep  His  promises.  He  was  not 
obliged  to  give  them  at  all.  When  he  gavjs  them,  He  meant 
they  should  be  kept. 

Aye,  and  we  may  take  the  promises  of  God  in  their  fullest 
and  broadest  meaning.  Fidelity  includes  not  exciting  ground- 
less expectations  as  well  as  standing  true  to  the  bare  letter  of 
v.'hat  we  have  said.  We  are  responsible  for  all  that  Ave  con- 
sciously lead  men  to  hope  for,  and  not  merely  for  the  close  and 
legal  interpretation  of  our  word.  But  we  are  too  apt  to  treat 
God  as  though  we  thought  Him  in  the  habit  of  talking  beyond 
His  meaning, — as  though  we  thought  that  He  had  sometimes 
been  hurried  away  by  excitement  into  promises  so  magnificent 
that  we  could  not  reasonably  expect  Him  to  fulfil  them.  \\c 
forget  that  "  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  tried," — refined,  purified, 
like  silver  and  gold,  in  which  there  is  no  alloy  ;  and  that  "  He 
is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or 
think." 

Nor  are  the  promises  of  God  to  be  thought  of  as  though 
they  were  the  formal  terms  of  a  treaty.  There  may  be  times 
when  the  soul  may  need  all  the  strength  derived  from  the  know- 
ledge that  He  has  given  His  pledge  never  to  forsake  any  that 
put  their  trust  in  Him ;  but  it  is  nobler  to  go  to  Him  with  an 
unstinted  confidence,  to  be  willing  that  the  papers  which  bear 
His  signature  should  be  cast  into  the  fire,  and  to  think  of  all 
the  assurances  of  His  mercy  and  grace  rather  as  appeals  to  our 
faith  than  as  bonds  of  His  fidelity.  If  he  had  never  promised 
anything,  He  would  bless  us  just  as  bountifully. 

But,  though  we  do  not  need  God's  promises  to  make  Him 
unchangeably  good  to  us,  how  desolate  the  world  would  have 
been,  had  He  never  spoken  them  !  I  like  to  remember  how 
they  have  been  the  strength  and  consolation  of  a  long  line  of 
saints.  When  a  river  is  flowing  at  our  feet,  we  often,  in  imagi- 
nation, trace  it  along  its  course  from  the  remote  and  silent  hills 


238  TJie  Great  Appeal. 

v>here  the  melting  snows  and  the  perennial  springs  give  birth 
to  its  waters, — and  on  through  the  dark  glens  where  it  wanders 
as  a  brook  among  the  green  grass  and  the  wild  flowers  and  the 
graceful  ferns, — and  through  plains  which  are  yellow  in  harvest- 
time  with  the  golden  corn,  and  between  frowning  cliffs,  and  by 
(juiet  villages,  and  under  the  crumbling  walls  of  ancient 
cities  ;  and  so  these  promises  of  God  have  been  flowing  on 
through  age  after  age,  cherishing  a  thousand  forms  of  spiritual 
life  and  beauty.  They  gave  rapture  to  David's  praise ;  they 
kindled  the  fire  of  apostolic  zeal  in  the  heart  of  Paul,  and 
Peter,  and  John  ;  confessors  in  their  prisons,  martyrs  at  the 
stake, — "  a  multitude  that  no  man  can  number," — saintly  men 
and  women  who  are  now  among  the  angels  of  God,  found  in 
these  promises  courage  to  confront  all  danger,  patience  to 
endure  all  suffering,  peace  and  triumph  in  the  hour  of  death. 
You  may  not  be  able  to  visit  the  spots  which  the  memories  of 
these  holy  men  have  consecrated  ;  but  you  are  on  the  very 
brink  of  the  living  waters  at  which  they  drank  immortal 
strength  ;  and  you  are  surrounded  by  the  mountainous  outlines 
of  the  glorious  hopes  on  which  they  delighted  to  gaze.  "  He 
is  faithful  tliat promised." 

(3)  These  Jewish  Christians  are  directed  to  "  consider  one 
another  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good  works"  and  not^to  ^^ for- 
sake the  assembling"  of  themselves  together. 

The  aids  to  be  derived  from  Christian  fellowship  are  especially 
needed  by  those  who  have  become  spiritually  feeble  and  are 
drifting  back  to  sin.  The  Jewish  believers  had  been  grievously 
injured  by  their  negligence  in  maintaining  religious  intercourse 
with  each  other,  and  attending  the  meetings  of  the  Church. 
The  turbid  torrent  of  patriotic  fanaticism  was  rushing  fiercely 
past  them,  and  a  firm  and  hearty  union  of  affection  and 
spupathy  with  their  fellow-Christians  would  have  confirmed 
their  fidelity  to  Christ. 

And  it  is  to  me  a  matter  of  astonishment  that  in  these  da3's, 
when  the  excitements  of  business  are  plainly  working  such 
disastrous  effects  on  the  religious  earnestness  of  the  Church, 
Christian  men  do  not  more  clearly  see  that  their"only  safety  lies 


The  Great  Appeal.  239 

in  drawing  more  c:losely  the  bonds  of  Christian  fellowship. 
Voii  are  often  too  weary  and  anxious  to  pray  alone,  with  any 
■concentration  of  thought  or  any  fervour  of  feeling,  but  you 
Avould  find  that  among  your  brethren,  the  pulses  of  a  genial  and 
healthy  excitement  would  begin  to  throb  in  your  souls.  listen- 
ing at  first  with  sluggish  unconcern  to  their  songs  of  adoration, 
you  would  soon  begin  to  glow  with  sympathetic  gratitude  and 
joy.  Unmoved  at  first  by  their  earnest  supplications,  }'ou 
would  soon  be  conscious  that  the  fires  of  devotion  were  kind- 
ling in  your  hearts.  You  will  find  yourself  breathing  a  calmer 
iiir,  surrounded  by  a  purer  light,  and  would  go  home,  not  to  say 
t]iat  you  had  discharged  your  duty,  and  that  private  worship 
was  now  unnecessary,  but  thirsting  for  still  more  intimate  com- 
munion with  God. 

11. 

I  can  only  refer  very  briefly  to  the  motives  with  which  these 
exhortations  are  enforced. 

(i)  "  Ye  see  the  day  approaeJiiivf — the  final  catastrophe,  in 
v.'iich  the  polity  of  the  Jewish  church  and  state  was  to  be 
broken  up,  was  at  hand.  The  signs  of  its  approach  were 
thickening  and  multiplying  ;  and  the  Hebrew  Christians  had 
been  taught  to  look  forward  to  it  as  "  the  bloody  and  fiery 
dawn"  of  the  Great  Day  itself.  To  relapse  into  Judaism  at  the 
very  time  that  the  appalling  judgments  of  God  were  hanging 
o\-er  the  Jewish  nation, — to  apostatise  from  Christ  in  the  veiy 
jjresence  of  that  dread  event,  v.diich,  in  its  spiritual  significance 
and  temporal  horrors,  v.'ould  be  no  faint  anticipation  of  the 
more  awful  hour  when  the  Lord  Jesus  would  "be  revealed 
from  heaven  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that 
know  not  God  and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  would  be  the  insanity  of  wickedness. 

(2)  For  those  that  abandon  their  Christian  profession — ^'^  sin 
ivilfiilly  after"  that  they  '•'  have  reeeived  the  h/uuc/edi^r  of  the 
truth.,  there  rcinaineth  no  more  saerifice  for  sins."  The}'  could 
not  return  to  the  temi)le,  and  i)lead  with  (_}od  for  mercy  over 
the  offerings  which  their  fiithers  had  presented  to  Him.  The 
old  co\enant  had  passed  awa}'.     Its  priests  ]iad  lost  their  con- 


240  TJie  Great  Appeal. 

secration.  Its  altars  had  lost  their  sanctity.  Its  sacrifices  had 
lost  their  power  with  God.  There  was  now  only  one  atonement 
for  sin  which  God  would  regard  ;  and  if  they  turned  away  from 
that,  there  was  nothing  for  them  "  but  a  certain  fearful  looking 
for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall  devour  the 
adversaries."  For  a  Jew  to  be  left  with  all  his  sins  upon  him, 
and  no  sin-offering  by  w^hich  to  invoke  the  Divine  pardon,  was 
for  him  to  be  condemned  to  intolerable  despair. 

(3)  Nor  would  apostates  be  merely  left  wath  their  common 
transgressions  unexpiated  ;  the  guilt  of  their  apostacy  would 
bring  a  dreadful  penalty  :  "  He  that  despised  Moses'  law  died 
without  mercy,  under  two  or  three  witnesses ;  of  how  much  sorer 
punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  he  thought  ivorthy  who  hath 
trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of 
the  covenant,  wherezcnth  He  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and 
hath  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace  ?  For  we  know  Him 
that  hath  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  7ne,  I  tvill  recompense, 
saith  the  Lord.  And  again.  The  Lord  shall  judge  His  people. 
It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  Godl'' 

(4)  They  are  exhorted  to  ''  call  to  remembrance  the  former 
days"  the  days  of  their  early  Christian  life — in  which  they 
"  endured  a  great  fight  of  afflictions."  They  had  begun  well,  and 
their  boldness  and  courage,  if  only  sustained  to  the  end,  would 
bring  a  '■'■great  recompense  of  reward : "  "  cast  not  azcay  therefore 
your  confidence." 

(5)  There  is  an  appeal  to  Hope.  They  had  '■'■need  of 
endurance"  that  they  might  continue  to  ''  do  the  will  of  God, 
and  receive  the  promise."  Only  let  them  wait,  and  God  would 
fulfil  His  word ;  only  let  them  wait,  and  their  troubles  would  all 
pass  away.  "  For  yet  a  little  7uhile,  and  He  that  is  to  come  will 
co)7ie,  and  will  not  tarry."  But  for  them,  as  for  the  saints  in  the 
old  time,  unfaltering  trust  in  God  is  necessary ;  "  the  just"  Hab- 
bakuk  had  said,  "  shall  live  by  faith."  This  was  the  law 
vinder  the  old  covenant ;  it  is  the  law  still  under  the  new ;  and 
"  if  any  man  draw  back" — weary  of  trusting  in  My  word — 
"  My  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure  in  him."  "  But  we,"  concludes 
the  writer,  ''arc  not  of  them  that  draw  back  7iuto perdition ;  but 


The  Great  Appeal.  241 

of  them  who  believe  to  thesaving  of  the  soul.'"  After  his  ordinary- 
manner,  he  cannot  leave  his  readers  agitated  and  alarmed  by 
Avords  of  terror  and  threatening  ;  he  asserts,  indeed,  the  im- 
perative necessity  of  preserving  faith,  if  salvation  is  to  be 
secured,  but  lovingly  and  hopefully  expresses  his  confidence 
that  his  brethren,  though  sorely  tried  and  weakly  vacillating, 
will,  after  all,  stand  true  to  their  Lord. 


THE  CLOUD  OF  WITNESSES. 

"  Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,"  &c. 
Hebrews  xi,  i ; — xii,  3. 

In  Christ's  last  discourse  to  His  disciples,  He  had  distinctly 
foretold  the  great  trouble  which  was  now  impending  over  the 
Jewish  believers — "  They  shall  put  you  out  of  their  syna- 
gogues." Hitherto  the  Jewish  Christians  had  continued  to 
celebrate  the  ancient  ritual,  and  their  presence  in  the  temple 
and  the  synagogues  had  been  tolerated  by  their  unbelieving 
countrymen  :  but  now,  they  were  in  danger  of  excommuni- 
cation, and  it  is  hardly  possible  for  us  to  conceive  their  distress 
and  dismay.  Their  veneration  for  the  institutions  of  Moses 
had  not  been  diminished  by  their  acknowledgment  of  the 
Messiahship  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  for  them,  as  well  as  for  the  rest 
of  their  race,  an  awful  sanctity  rested  on  the  ceremonies 
from  which  they  were  threatened  with  exclusion.  Nor  was 
this  all. 

The  intensity  of  national  feeling  among  the  Jews  at  this  time 
has  never  been  paralleled  in  any  age  or  in  any  country,  and  the 
ties  which  united  the  Je\vish  Christians  to  each  other  had  not 
yet  become  strong  enough  to  compensate  for  the  loss  of  all 
fellow.ship  with  their  countrymen.  The  Nation  was  more  to 
them  than  the  Church. 

When  threatened  with  separation  from  the  solemnities  of  the 
ancient  worship, — from  the  priesthood,  the  altars,  the  sacrifices, 
the  festivals, — it  must  have  seemed  to  them  that  they  were 
threatened  with  the  loss  of  all  those  venerable  and  sacred  recol- 
lections which  were  the  most  cherished  possession  of  their  race. 
Their  connection  with  the  past  would  be  broken  as  well  as 
with  the  present.     When  banished  from  the  temple,  they  would 


TJic  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  243 

no  longer  be  able  to  claim  any  part  in  Abraham,  Moses,  David, 
and  the  prophets.  Excommunication  was  more  terrible  than 
the  loss  of  property,  or  the  loss  of  life  itself 

Therefore,  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  calls  up  the  most 
glorious  names  of  Jewish  history  to  confirm  his  vacillating 
brethren  in  their  fidelity  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  demon- 
strates that  all  the  saints  of  former  generations  had  been  con- 
spicuous for  their  invincible  faith  in  the  Divine  word ;  that  this 
was  their  common  characteristic,  whether  they  were  warriors, 
prophets,  martyrs,  or  kings  ;  that  by  faith  they  had  won  God's 
approbation,  and  wrought  deliverance  for  their  country ;  and 
the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  whole  chapter  is  this — that  the 
Jewish  Christians  had  only  to  imitate  the  example  of  their 
most  illustrious  ancestors. 

It  was  not  by  offering  sacrifices,  nor  by  attending  festivals, 
nor  by  the  pomp  and  exactness  with  which  they  had  celebrated 
any  external  rites  and  ceremonies,  that  the  noblest  of  their 
forefathers  had  won  their  greatness,  but  by  their  firm  and  sted- 
fast  trust  in  God.  The  inspired  writer  had  been  exhorting  them 
to  "hold  fast"  the  confession  of  their  faith  without  wavering, — 
not  to  "cast  away"  their  "  confidence," — to  "wait  patiently"  for 
the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  promise ;  and  now  he  shows  that  a 
conviction  of  the  reality  of  things  unseen,  triumphing  over  all 
visible  difficulties  and  outward  calamities,  a  confident  pcrsnasio/i 
of  the  certainty  of  things  hoped  for,  making  the  heart  strong  to 
bear  present  suffering,  and  to  endure  the  sickening  weariness  of 
disappointment  and  delay,  had  been  the  life  of  the  Jewish 
people  from  the  beginning, — the  great  characteristic  of  their 
religion, — the  supreme  glory  of  their  saints.  From  the  very 
first,  what  God  had  asked  for,  what  He  had  chiefly  honoured, 
was  that  very  reliance  on  His  word,  from  which,  in  this 
moment  of  peril  and  perplexity,  the  Jewish  Christians  were 
shrinking.  Let  us  see  how  he  illustrates  and  developes  this 
truth. 

He  begins  at  the  very  opening  of  their  sacred  books,  and 
reminds  them  that  the  first  article  of  their  religious  creed  rested 
on  faith.     It  was  because  of  the  Divine  word,  and  the  Divine 


244  '^^^'^  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

word  alone,  that  they  beheved  that  "  in  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth," — that  "  the  ivorlds  zvcre 
framed  by  the  word  of  GodT 

He  turns  the  page,  and  reads  the  story  of  Cain  and  Abel. 
The  two  brothers  bring  their  sacrifices  to  God  :  the  one  a  lamb, 
for  he  was  a  shepherd ;  the  other,  fruits  of  the  earth,  for  he 
was  a  tiller  of  the  ground.  Both  these  sacrifices  were  in  them- 
selves acceptable  to  God,  for  under  the  Levitical  institutions, 
wheat  and  barley  were  offered  by  the  Divine  command,  as  well 
as  lambs,  and  bullocks,  and  goats.  But  the  '■'■faith  "  of  Abel 
made  his  sacrifice  "  more  excellent''''  than  that  of  Cain  ;  and  '■'■  by 
his  faith"  not  by  his  sacrifice,  "  he  obtained  witness  that  he  was 
righteous, — God"  in  some  way,  '■'■bearing  testimony''''  to  him  when 
he  was  presenting  " his  gifts"  The  narrative  in  Genesis  tells 
us  nothing  about  the  reason  why  '■'  He  had  respect  unto  Abel 
and  his  offering,"  or  why  "  to  Cain  and  to  his  offering  he  had 
not  respect."  I  suppose  that  the  explanation  given  here  of  the 
difference  between  the  religious  acts  of  the  two  brothers  was 
commonly  received  among  the  Jews  to  whom  this  Epistle  was 
addressed,  and  there  was  no  need  for  the  writer  to  fortify  the 
explanation  by  any  proof; — by  adopting  it  he  has  given  it  the 
sanction  of  his  own  authority. '•' 

A  little  further  on  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  the  writer  finds  a 
genealogical  table,  and  he  reads  that  Adam  died,  -Seth  died, 
Enos  died,  Cainan  died  ;  but  presently  comes  an  interruption 
to  the  dreary  monotony  of  the  record — ■"  Enoch  walked  with 
God,  and  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him."  "  He  walked  with 
God."  Nothing  is  said  about  the  building  of  a  temple,  or  the 
consecration  of  priests,  or  the  slaying  of  sacrifices.  "  He 
pleased  God;  but  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  Him  :  for 
he  that  cometh  to  God,  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him."  Enoch's  acceptable 
service  and  hoi}'  life  rested  on  his  faith. 

As  the  details  of  the  sacred  history  become  more  numerous, 

*  "  God  is  not  taken  with  the  cabinet,  but  with  the  jewel  ;  He  first  respected 
Abel's  faith  and  sincerity,  and  then  his  sacrifice  ;  He  disrespected  Cain's 
infidelity  and  hypocrisy,  and  then  his  oKenng." —C/iariiock,  i,  300  (Nichol's 
edition). 


TJic  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  245 

the  ^\Titer  finds  more  striking  and  obvious  proofs  of  his  prin- 
ciple. But  for  faith,  the  whole  race  would  have  perished,  and 
the  history  of  mankind  would  have  come  to  a  miserable  end  in 
the  waters  of  the  flood.  It  was  not  by  sacrifices  and  cere- 
monies that  Noah  saved  himself  and  his  children,  but  "  bein^ 
warned  of  God  of  things  not  seen  as  yet,"  he  believed,  in  the 
Divine  word,  "  7aas  moved  with  fear,  and  prepared  an  arJz  to  the 
saving  of  his  house." 

And  as  the  world  would  have  perished  but  for  the  fai.th  ot 
Noah,  the  national  distinctions  of  the  Jewish  race  would  never 
have  been  theirs, — the  Jewish  race  would  never  have  existed  at 
all, — but  for  the  faith  of  Abraham.  His  faith  was  his  great 
title  to  human  veneration,  as  it  was  the  great  reason  which 
obtained  for  him  the  Divine  favour.  Nor  was  it  by  one  act  of 
confidence  in  God  that  the  promises  inherited  from  him  by  his 
descendants  were  secured  ;  crisis  after  crisis  occurred  in  his 
history  when  all  would  have  been  lost,  had  his  trust  in  God 
foiled.  When  he  was  called  to  leave  the  land  of  his  fathers,  he 
might  have  distrusted  God  and  refused  to  go  ;  but  through 
faith  "  Jie  obeyed,  and  he  luent  out,  not  knowing  whither  he  wentT 
For  years  he  wandered  in  the  land  of  promise,  having  no  pro- 
perty there,  moving  about  from  place  to  place  among  tribes  who 
were  constantly  increasing  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  power ;  and 
he  might  naturally  enough  have  lost  all  hope  that  the  land 
would  ever  become  his  ;  but  his  confidence  in  the  Divine  word 
Avas  unshaken.  The  time  came  when,  according  to  the  course 
of  nature,  he  and  Sarah  could  no  longer  expect  a  child,  and, 
but  for  their  faith,  Isaac  would  never  have  been  bom,  and  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  race  never  have  begun  ;  but  through  faith 
"  there  sprang  even  of  one,  a7id  him  as  good  as  dead,  so  many  as  the 
stars  of  the  sky  in  multitude,  and  as  the  sand  of  the  sea  shore 
innumerable."  When  that  child  was  rising  to  man's  estate, 
Abraham  was  called  to  offer  him  as  a  sacrifice ;  and  had  he 
shrunk  from  the  trial,  the  great  promises  he  had  received  would 
surely  have  been  cancelled ;  but  by  faith  "  he  offered  up 
Isaac  "'  *  '•'  his  only  begotten  son,  of  whom  it  was  said,  In 
Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called,  accounting  that  God  is  able  even 
to  raise  from  the  dead."     Throughout  Abraham's  history  there 


246  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

is  nothing  to  indicate  that  it  is  by  observing  the  external 
rites  of  a  ceremonial  religion  that  the  Divine  favour  is  won ; 
everything  rests  on  a  high  and  unconquerable  trust  in  the  word 
of  God, — a  trust  defying  all  adverse  appearances,  unsubdued 
by  present  sorrows,  and  resting  immoveably  in  "  things  unseen" 
and  "  things  hoped  for." 

It  was  the  same  with  Isaac ;  the  same  with  Jacob  \  the  same 
with  Joseph  ;  they  all  died  with  the  promises  unfulfilled,  but 
"  blessed"  their  descendants  and  "gave  commandments  con- 
cerning their  bones,"  in  the  sure  confidence  that  God  would  be 
faithful  to  His  word.  They  died  in  faith,  and  inasmuch  as  the 
earthly  inheritance  had  not  become  theirs,  they  set  their  hearts 
upon  "«  better  country,  that  is  a  heavenly ;  wherefore  God  is  not 
ashamed  to  be  called  their  God." 

The  history  of  Moses  is  as  full  of  illustrations  of  the  signi- 
ficance and  power  of  faith  as  that  of  Abraham  himself.  He 
would  have  perished  in  infancy  but  for  the  faith  of  his  parents. 
But  for  his  own  faith  he  would  have  abandoned  the  fortunes  of 
his  countrymen  and  become  ^' the  son  of  PharaoJis  daughter." 
It  was  faith  which  inspired  him  with  courage  and  boldness  to 
lead  the  people  out  of  Egypt;  faith  which  prompted  him  to 
arrange  for  the  celebration  of  "  tJie  passover ; "  faith  which 
divided  the  waters  of  "  the  Red  Sea"  for  the  armies  of  Israel  to 
pass  through  on  dry  ground.  Trust  in  God,^ — tliis  was  the  law 
of  his  life,  and  this  was  the  power  which  wrought  out  the 
deliverance  of  the  nation. 

"  The  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down  "  because  Joshua  had  faith 
in  the  Divine  command ;  "  the  harlot  Rahab "  saved  her  life 
by  her  faith  in  the  Divine  power.  "  Gideon"  " Barak" 
''Sampson,"  '' Jephthce,"  '' Bai'id,"  ''Samuel;"  all  the  illus- 
trious names  in  the  Jewish  annals,  the  memory  of  whose 
valour,  sufferings,  and  triumphs,  was  even  now  adding  fire  to 
patriotic  passion,  and  giving  courage  to  despair,  had  all  been 
strong  in  the  strength  of  faith.  They  had  trusted  God,  when 
cruel  calamities  had  broken  the  spirit  of  their  countrymen  : 
they  had  trusted  Him,  when  His  providence  had  seemed  to 
forsake  them,  and  when  torture  and  death  were  their  only 
reward.     In  the  strength  of  their  faith  they  had  won  glorious 


TJic  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  247 

victories ;  in  the  strength  of  their  faith  they  had  made  suffering 
and  disaster  subhme.  Through  faith  they  had  "  subdued  king- 
doms, wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the  fnonths 
of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the 
Stcord,  out  of  weakness  zvere  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight, 
turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  aliens.  Women  received  their  dead 
raised  to  life  again;  and  others  were  tortured,  not  accepting 
deliverance ;  that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection ;  and 
others  had  trials  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgijigs,  yea  moreover, 
of  bonds  and  imprisonments ;  they  7vere  stoned,  they  were  sawn 
astmder,  they  were  slain  with  the  sword :  they  wandered  about  in 
sheepskins  and  goatskins ;  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented ;  (of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy)  :  they  waiidered  in  deserts  and 
in  inotcntains ,  and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth." 

And  now  the  followers  of  Christ  were  called  to  emulate  the 
heroic  confidence  of  their  ancestors.  The  virtue  which  had 
been  most  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  their  fathers  was  the 
very  virtue  demanded  by  the  perils  and  sufferings  which  at  this 
moment  encompassed  them.  They  might  be  driven  from  the 
communion  of  their  contemporaries ;  but  if  their  faith  was  un- 
broken, they  would  enter  into  fellowship  with  the  noblest 
saints  of  former  generations.  In  their  isolation  from  the 
Jewish  church  and  state  of  their  own  days  they  would  become 
the  brethren  of  Abel,  and  Enoch,  and  Noah,  and  Abraham, 
and  Moses,  and  Joshua,  and  David,  and  Samuel,  and  all  the 
prophets.  It  was  for  them  to  add  a  new  and  shining  chapter 
to  the  history  of  their  race ;  to  prove  that  still  the  Jew  could 
hold  fast  his  confidence  in  things  hoped  for,  in  spite  of  present 
miseries,  and  could  sacrifice  all  visible  blessings, — comfort, 
ease,  honour,  the  outward  solemnities  of  an  ancient  religious 
life, — for  the  sake  of  things  unseen.  They  are  "  surrounded  by 
a  great  cloud  of  witnesses."  They  have  to  choose  between 
communion  with  their  countrymen  who  have  rejected  the  true 
Messiah,  and  fellowship  in  faith,  in  suftering,  in  endurance,  in 
final  glory  with  all  the  good  of  past  generations.  They  have 
to  choose  between  bearing  the  contempt  and  the  hatred  and 
the  cruelty  of  living  men,  and  disappointing  the  hopes  of  the 
illustrious  dead.     It  is  impossible  to  hesitate  ;   they  must  "  lay 


248  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

aside  every  weight^'' — their  innocent,  their  honourable  devotion 
to  their  country,  their  sympathy  with  the  struggle  for  national 
independence,  their  traditional  veneration  for  the  temple  and 
its  services  :  "  and  the  sin  "  which,  like  a  loose  garment  clinging 
to  the  limbs  of  a  runner,  impeded  all  their  energy, — the  sin  of 
unbelief,  of  impatience,  of  being  ashamed  of  Christ ;  "  and 
run  with  patience"  or  endurance,  ^^  the  race  set  before"  them. 

This  is  the  general  spirit  and  drift  of  the  writer's  appeal  to 
the  great  names  which  all  Jews  regarded  with  love  and  pride  ; 
and  it  is  inconceivable  that  this  thrilling  passage  could  have 
been  read  to  any  church  in  Palestine  without  tears  of  wonder, 
penitence,  and  delight.  And  after  the  first  shock  of  its  fervid 
eloquence  had  passed  away,  it  would  be  seen  that  every 
separate  link  in  the  impassioned  argument  was  flashing  with 
electric  inspiration  ;  and  I  can  imagine  one  man  after  another 
rising  in  the  church  and  drawing  courage  and  hope  and 
entreaty  and  warning  from  every  separate  sentence.  By  faith 
"the  elders  obtained  a  good  report" — and  we,  by  trusting  in  God, 
and  defying  present  shame,  may  also  win  the  honour  of  coming 
generations.  "  Through  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds 
were  f ranted  by  the  word  of  God"-  and  for  that  truth  we  should 
be  ready  to  suifer  the  most  cruel  tortures  and  the  most  horrible 
death ;  we  have  the  same  ground  for  confidence  in  the  glory 
promised  to  all  that  are  true  to  Christ,  and  for  that  too  should 
be  prepared  to  endure  all  that  the  .hatred  of  our  enemies  can 
inflict.  What  though  we  perish  like  Abel  ? — our  blood,  like 
his,  shall  cry  aloud  to  God,  and  our  death  shall  be  eloquent  to 
all  generations  :  or  it  may  be  that  God  in  His  mercy  will 
deliver  us  from  the  power  of  our  foes  and  translate  us,  like 
Enoch,  to  heaven.  We  are  alone  in  the  world  ;  like  Noah,  we 
are  surrounded  by  a  wicked  and  impious  generation, — but  as 
God  threatened  to  destroy  the  old  world  with  a  flood,  so  hath 
Christ  warned  us  that  frightful  calamities  are  coming  upon  our 
country  and  our  race ;  and  if  we  only  trust  in  the  Divine  Avord, 
spite  of  mockery  and  contempt,  we  may  be  saved  ourselves 
from  the  judgments  of  heaven,  and  may  become  the  fathers  of 
a  new  and  more  godly  race. 


TJlc  Clo2id  of  Witnesses.  249 

Like  Abraham,  we  may  have  to  leave  the  house  of  our 
-ancestors ;  may  be  driven  from  the  temple  to  which  our  hearts 
cling  with  an  imperishable  affection;  like  him,  we  may  be 
unable  to  penetrate  into  the  future,  and  may  not  know  whither 
God  is  leading  us ;  but  if  we  obey,  God  will  surely  give  us  a 
better  inheritance  than  that  which  for  His  sake  we  forsake. 
To  us  there  may  seem  no  reasonable  hope  of  success  in  the 
■enterprise  to  which  we  have  put  our  hand ;  but  Abraham  also, 
to  whom  God  had  promised  a  numerous  seed,  remained  child- 
less till  old  age,  and  yet  at  last  God  gave  him  a  son. 

In  Isaac  were  treasured  the  blessed  hopes  which  were 
Abraham's  recompense  for  a  life-time  of  endurance,  and  yet 
Isaac  was  to  be  slain;  in  the  institutions  of  Moses  are  treasured 
the  strength  and  joy  of  our  religious  life,  and  yet  the  institutions 
of  Moses  must  be  abandoned ;  let  us  believe  that  God  is  able 
to  restore  to  us  what  we  are  losing,  and  to  "  raise  the  dead " 
body  of  our  ancient  faith  in  a  nobler  and  more  glorious  form, 
and  that  we  may  henceforth  find  in  the  Church  more  than  the 
"holiest  of  our  fathers  have  ever  found  in  the  Temple. 

The  whole  chapter  is  intended  to  carry  to  the  Churches  of 
Palestine  the  conviction  that  the  true  representatives  of  the 
ancient  saints  are  henceforth  to  be  found  among  those,  who  for 
Christ's  sake  are  excluded  from  participation  in  the  national 
acts  of  worship.  They  are  to  be  sustained  under  the  contempt 
and  hatred  of  their  contemporaries,  by  their  veneration  for 
their  ancestors. 

Nor  was  this  the  whole  effect  of  the  appeal.  It  is  a  law  of 
human  nature  that  the  motives  to  discharge  any  duty  are 
multiplied  and  stengthened  when  we  see  it  illustrated  in  the 
acts  and  sufferings  of  good  men.  The  consciences  of  these 
Jewish  believers  had  told  them  that  they  ought  to  stand  firm 
against  persecution.  Their  fears  had  been  alarmed  by  the 
penalties  denounced  against  apostasy.  Their  intellect  had 
begun  to  discover  that,  in  losing  the  temple  and  sacrifices  of 
their  fathers,  they  lost  only  the  visible  symbols  of  the  true 
atonement  for  sin  and  of  spiritual  access  to  God ;  but  every 
passion  of  their  souls  is  stirred  when  they  are  challenged  to 
imitate   the   example,  and  to   win  the   rewards,    of  the   very 


250  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

noblest  men  of  the  old  time.  The  abstract  law  becomes  a 
thing  of  flesh  and  blood.  The  imagination  and  the  affections' 
sustain  the  authority  of  conscience.  A  holy  ambition  is- 
awakened.  The  heart  burns  for  fellowship  with  the  illustrious 
dead.  They  too,  in  their  day,  had  been  compassed  about 
with  infirmity,  and  what  through  God's  help  had  been  achieved 
once,  might  be  achieved  again.  And  thus  it  is  that  the  memory 
of  conspicuous  goodness  fires  the  zeal  and  invigorates  the 
courage  of  remote  generations. 

We  know  the  power  of  any  appeal  to  the  great  names  of  our 
secular  history.  There  is  no  scholar,  however  humble  or 
obscure,  v/hose  exhausted  energy  is  not  renewed  when  he  is 
reminded  of  the  famous  students  of  former  times.  The  honours 
which  cluster  and  thicken,  as  the  ages  roll  by,  round  the  names 
of  great  poets,  artists,  philosophers,  statesmen,  stimulate  the 
enthusiasm  and  sustain  the  energy  of  those  who,  in  distant  times 
and  countries,  strive  for  the  same  glory.  When  nations  are 
struggling  for  freedom,  it  is  not  living  patriotism  alone  which 
gives  strength  to  their  arms  and  daring  to  their  hopes, — the 
memory  of  the  patriots  of  other  lands  and  of  other  centuries 
kindles  enthusiasm  and  inspires  heroic  endurance.  Defeated, 
while  living,  in  their  conflicts  with  tyranny,  they  triumph 
gloriously  after  death. 

It  is  no  doubt  the  prerogative  of  men  who  have  been 
endowed  with  great  powers,  or  held  great  positions,  thus  to  act 
permanently  on  the  imaginations  and  the  passions  of  mankind ; 
but,  without  learning,  without  genius,  Avithout  oflicial  rank, 
without  social  distinction,  it  is  yet  possible  for  every  Christian 
man  to  illustrate  to  the  hearts  of  some,  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
and  to  vindicate  by  his  personal  obedience,  the  authority  of 
God.  Every  holy  life  is  a  visible  republication  of  the  Divine 
law,  a  solemn  appeal  to  the  consciences  of  men,  an  unan- 
swerable proof  that  in  this  world  of  temptation  and  sin,  it  is 
possible  to  recover  the  image  of  God  and  to  live  so  as  to 
please  Him.  Your  life  may  not  become  famous.  Orators,  in 
coming  ages,  may  not  recall  your  names  amidst  the  plaudits  of 
crowded  assemblies.  But  the  craving  for  an  immortal  reputa- 
tion, natural,   I    suppose,  to  the  heart  of  man,  may  yet  be 


The  CI 02 id  of  Witnesses.  251 

satisfied  \  for  if  the  soul  of  the  humblest,  poorest,  most 
ignorant  among  your  friends  and  acquaintances,  is  prompted  or 
encouraged  to  live  a  holy  life  by  your  example,  the  memory  of 
your  deeds  will  endure  as  long  as  the  blessedness  of  the 
glorified. 

In  the  verses  with  which  the  eleventh  chapter  closes,  the 
WTiter  reminds  the  Jewish  Christians  that,  severe  as  was  the 
trial  of  their  own  faith,  it  was,  in  one  particular,  less  severe 
than  that  to  which  their  fathers  had  been  subjected.  "  These 
all,  havitig  obtained  a  good  report  through  faith,  received  not  the 
promise,  God  having  provided  some  better  tiling  for  us,  that  they 
wit /unit  us  sJiould  not  be  made  perfect.''' 

Through  one  weary  century  after  another,  the  patriarchs  and 
prophets  had  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  their  faith 
had  been  equal  to  the  prolonged  strain.  For  them  there  was 
no  real  sacrifice  for  sin.  Their  access  to  the  Divine  presence 
was  imperfect.  The  spiritual  powers  by  which  their  holiness 
was  sustained  were  comparatively  feeble.  Their  knowledge  of 
God  was  very  limited.  The  great  promise  on  which  their 
hearts  rested,  began  to  be  fulfilled  only  at  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  We  might  almost  say  that  they  had  nothing  in 
actual  possession ;  that  for  them  everything  lay  in  an  indefinite 
future.  It  was  not  so  with  those  to  ^vhom  this  Epistle  v^'as 
\\ritten  :  it  is  not  so  with  us. 

The  Messiah,  for  whom  former  ages  hoped,  has  come.  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  has  been  established.  The  atonement  for 
sin  has  been  effected.  In  the  person  of  Christ  our  nature  has 
been  united  for  ever  with  the  nature  of  God.  "We  ourselves  are 
made  one  with  Him,  and  have  become  the  temples  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Instead  of  having  to  rely  on  an  unfulfilled  promise,  we 
have  to  thank  God  that  the  mystery  and  wealth  of  the  Divine 
Word  have  begun  to  be  unfolded.  The  process  of  fulfilment 
has  commenced,  and  is  moving  forward  day  by  day.  What  was 
a  matter  of  simple  faith  in  other  ages,  is  a  matter  of  knowledge 
and  of  consciousness  to  ourselves. 

This  however  is  only  a  part  of  the  meaning  of  these  remark- 
able words.     They  seem  to  teach  that  there  is  a  unity  between 


252  TJic  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

the  spirits  of  the  just  who  have  departed  this  Hfe,  and  the 
Church  remaining  upon  earth,  far  more  intimate  than  we 
commonly  suppose.  Not  merely  while  the  saints  of  ancient 
times  lived,  were  they  waiting  for  the  coming  of  Christ ;  even 
after  their  decease  their  bliss  was  imperfect.  They  rested  in 
.  God ;  but  the  fulness  of  their  spiritual  bliss  was  not  attained, 
until  God  became  man,  died  for  human  sin,  and  established 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

There  was  an  intimate  connection  between  the  ascension  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Father,  and  the  coming  of  the  Holy 
Ghost — a  connection  which  I  think  the  profoundest  theologians 
have  been  able  only  most  inadequately  to  understand.  Why, 
we  know  not,  but  the  Spirit  could  not  come  until  Christ  was 
glorified.  And  it  seems  that  the  saints  above  were  waiting  for 
the  fuller  communication  of  the  Divine  life,  as  well  as  the  saints 
below.  For  them,  as  well  as  for  us,  a  closer  union  with  God 
became  possible  when  humanity  was  made  one  with  God,  in 
the  complex  nature  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  They  were  not  to  reach 
the  consummation  of  their  spiritual  strength  and  joy  and  the 
fulness  of  their  blessedness,  "  without  us."  The  promise 
fulfilled  to  us,  brought  to  them  what  they  had  long  been 
waiting  for. 

It  is  altogether  probable,  that  among  the  Jewish  Christians 
there  would  be  great  anxiety  to  know  what  had  been  the 
condition,  in  the  unseen  world,  of  their  saintly  forefathers  who 
had  died  before  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  It  is  probable, 
too,  that  on  this  subject  revelations  may  have  been  made  by 
the  apostles  which  were  not  recorded  in  Holy  Scripture,  because 
their  chief  interest  and  practical  importance  would  cease 
before  the  true  tradition  of  their  teaching  had  been  corrupted 
and  passed  away.  An  incidental  sentence  of  this  kind  seems 
to  imply  a  knowledge,  in  primitive  times,  of  the  state  of  good 
men  who  had  died  before  Christ  came,  which  has  disappeared 
from  the  memory  of  the  Church. 

But  it  is  clear  that  the  truths  here  alluded  to,  not  fully 
expressed,  gave  great  additional  force  to  the  argument  and 
appeal  of  the  writer.  Your  fathers,  he  says,  the  greatest  of 
them,  while  they  lived,  and  after  they  entered  Paradise,  were 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  253 

waiting  and  hoping,  for  the  coming  of  Christ.  Neither  on  earth 
nor  in  Heaven  could  they  be  '■'■  made  pcrfccf^  until  He  came. 
Till  His  birth,  till  His  death,  till  His  ascension  to  glory,  tJicir 
life  was  a  life  of  faith ;  and  yet  yoic  are  ready — though  the 
Divine  promise  is  already  in  part  fulfilled — to  surrender  your 
confidence  in  God,  because  the  complete  fulfilment  is  still 
delayed.* 

It  is  implied  that  "the  spirits  of  the  just"  were  longing  for 
the  fulfilment  on  earth,  of  the  promise  God  had  given  in  the 
old  time.  Their  attention  was  fixed  on  the  movements  of 
Divine  Providence,  which  prepared  for  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  gazed  with  awe  and  wonder  and 
unutterable  solicitude  on  His  birth  and  childhood,  and  the  acts 
of  His  public  ministry;  they  watched,  and  not  afar  off,  the  agony 
in  the  garden  and  the  mystery  of  the  cross ;  they  waited,  not 
\\'\\X\  doubt  and  fear,  but  with  eager,  confident  hope,  for  His 
resurrection  from  the  dead ;  they  filled  Heaven  with  an  ocean 
of  exulting,  rapturous  song  when  He  ascended  to  His  throne. 
Nor  would  they  cease  to  bend  their  eyes  towards  the  earth 
when  He  was  no  longer  there.  Those  to  whom  the  great 
struggle  with  the  powers  of  evil  was  entrusted  were  their 
brethren ;  and  their  own  ultimate  perfection  would  not  be 
attained  until  the  fight  on  earth  was  over  and  the  victory  won. 
They  formed  a  great  " cloud  of  witnesses"  testifying  from  their 
thrones  to  the  fidelity  of  God  to  His  promises,  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  those  whose  faith  was  sorely  tried,  and  whose  hearts 
were  failing  in  the  strife. 

Finally.  It  is  not  merely  to  mortal  men  that  these  Jewish 
believers  are  exhorted  to  look,  in  order  that  their  trust  in  God 
may  be  sustained  to  the  end.     Christ  Himself  is  the  most 

*  However  obscure  and  mysterious  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  from  other 
parts  of  Holy  Scripture  that  even  now,  those  who  are  witli  Christ  have  not 
entered  into  the  full  inheritance  of  everlasting  glory  ;  and  it  is  still  true,  though 
in  a  different  sense,  that  "without  us"  they  are  not  to  be  "made  perfect." 
The  resurrection  of  the  body  is  everywhere  referred  to,  as  necessary  to  the 
perfection  of  the  heavenly  state.  The  "spirits  of  the  just  "  are  made  perfect 
by  the  coming  of  Christ ;  but  there  is  a  perfection  still  before  them  which  they 
will  not  know  until  the  whole  Church  is  ready  to  enter  into  everlasting  bliss. 


254  ^-^^^  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

illustrious  Example  of  the  Faith  they  are  now  called  to  exer- 
cise. Patriarchs,  prophets,  martyrs,  saints,  are  but  the  shining 
hosts  of  which  He  is  the  great  "  Leader." 

Throughout  His  earthly  history,  He  was  sustained  by  the 
vision  of  things  unseen,  and  by  the  expectation  of  things 
hoped  for.  It  was  in  the  strength  of  His  Faith  in  God  that 
He  overcame  the  temptations  of  the  devil  in  the  wilderness, 
relying  on  the  Divine  word  against  all  the  falsehoods  of  the 
wicked  one.  It  was  in  the  strength  of  His  Faith,  that  He 
laboured  for  three  years  and  a  half  among  the  fishermen  and 
peasants  of  Galilee,  and  the  harlots  and  publicans  of  Jerusalem, 
believing  that  by  His  obscure,  and,  as  it  would  seem  to  human 
eyes,  inglorious  success  among  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  and  the 
sinful,  He  was  laying  the  foundations  of  an  eternal  kingdom. 
It  was  in  the  strength  of  His  Faith,  that  He  endured  the 
agony  of  Gethsemane,  expecting  and  receiving  the  Divine 
support  when  His  mortal  weakness  was  failing.  It  was  in  the 
strength  of  His  Faith,  that  by  His  patient  endurance  of  the 
tortures  and  shame  of  the  cross.  He  would  atone  for  the  sins 
of  the  world,  that  He  permitted  His  enemies  to  scourge  Him, 
bind  Him,  and  put  Him  to  death ;  and  in  the  very  crisis  of 
His  sufferings.  He  demonstrated  His  Faith,  by  promising 
to  the  repentant  thief  an  immediate  entrance  into  Paradise. 
Crucified  by  His  enemies,  forsaken  by  His  friends,  denied  for 
a  time  the  consciousness  of  the  Divine  presence  and"  favour. 
He  did  not  "  draw  back."  He  held  fast  to  His  confidence  in 
the  Father.  He  clung  to  the  hope  of  ^^  the  Joy  set  before  Hm" 
the  joy  of  forgiving  and  saving  all  that  should  come  to  God 
through  Him.  He  is  the  "  Leader "  of  all  who  live  by  Faith ; 
and  in  His  own  life  Faith  Avas  "perfected." 

The  history  of  His  followers  was  to  be  a  repetition  of  His 
own ;  and  if  they  were  conformed  to  His  image  in  suffering,  in 
endurance,  in  Faith,  they  might  confidently  expect  to  rise  with 
Him  to  the  right  hand  of  God.  "  Consider  Him,  therefore,  who 
aidured  such  contradiction  of  sinners  against  Himself  lest  ye  be 
wearied  and  faiiit  in  your  minds P  ' 


CHASTISEMENT. 

"Ye  have  not  yet  resisted  unto  blood,"  &c. — Hebrews  xii,  4-11. 

In  the  first  verse  of  this  chapter,  the  strenuous  resistance  of 
temptation  and  the  patient  endurance  of  suffering,  are  repre- 
sented as  the  running  of  a  race.  In  the  fourth  verse,  the  figure 
is  changed;  the  Christian  is  a  wrestler,  a  pugiUst,  strugghng, 
fighting  against  sin ;  and  the  Jewish  believers  are  told  that  up 
till  now  no  ^^ blood''  had  been  drawn;  that  is,  the  fierce 
severity  of  the  conflict  had  yet  to  come.  They  had  no  right, 
therefore,  to  give  way,  and  no  excuse  for  exhaustion. 

But  the  ruling  thought  of  the  passage  we  have  to  consider 
this  morning  is,  that  all  they  were  suffering  was  to  be  regarded 
U.S  the  wise  and  loving  chastisement  of  God,  who  was  overruling 
und  employing  the  malice  of  their  enemies,  for  the  correction 
•of  their  sins  and  the  discipline  of  their  holiness. 

I  think  I  am  not  mistaken  in  saying  that  we  are  very 
unwilling  to  regard  our  troubles  as  chastiscmmts.  It  is  rather 
our  habit  to  think  of  sickness,  of  losses,  of  troubles  in  our 
families,  of  estrangement  from  friends,  as  affording  us  the 
opportunity  of  manifesting  our  faith  and  our  patience,  and 
proving  the  reality  and  strength  of  our  religious  life.  This 
would  be  all  very  well,  if  we  were  quite  sure  that  there  were 
no  unkno\vn  sins  for  which  we  needed  correction,  or  even  if 
we  were  free  from  the  actual  reproaches  of  conscience.  But 
we  are  constantly  confessing  our  transgressions,  constantly 
imploring  the  Divine  mercy,  constantly  lamenting  over  broken 
purposes  and  violated  vows,  and  entreating  God  to  give  us 
more  strength  in  the  time  to  come.  We  must  not  refuse,  there- 
fore, to  think  of  our  sorrows  as  ^^ the  chastening  of  the  Lord" 
nor  think  it  inipossiljle  that  we  should  be  '■'■  rebuked  of  Himy 


256  CJiastiseme7it. 

Sometimes  we  can  trace  easily  enough  the  connection  between- 
the  sin  and  the  chastisement.  Friends  may  talk  of  the  mystery 
of  Divine  Providence,  and  Avonder  why  we  should  be  so 
afflicted ;  but,  if  we  liked,  we  could  soon  remove  their  difficulty. 
We  know  that  we  are  reaping  what  we  have  sowed.  There  has 
been  neglect  of  duty,  there  has  been  positive  transgression, 
and  we  can  recognise  in  our  suffering,  the  direct  and  natural 
consequence  of  our  offences. 

At  other  times,  there  is  no  visible  link  between  present 
troubles  and  past  wrong  doing.  I  imagine  that  this  was  partly 
the  case  with  the  Jewish  Christians.  The  persecutions  under 
which  they  were  sinking  were  not,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  the 
natural  result  of  their  sin.'''  And  yet  they  are  told  that  they 
are  being  chastened  and  rebuked  of  the  Lord.  There  is  always 
reason,  therefore,  for  us  to  apprehend  that  our  sorrows 
may  be  of  this  nature.  Whether  or  not  we  can  connect  them 
with  particular  sinful  acts  or  habits,  it  is  surely,  in  the  case  of 
most  of  us,  more  likely  than  not,  that  they  are  intended  to 
correct  us  for  some  folly  or  fault.  And  it  is  a  curious  instance 
of  want  of  simplicity  of  heart,  that  we  should  be  so  ready  to 
confess  that  we  have  disobeyed  God,  and  so  unwilling  to 
believe  that  we  are  ever  chastened  for  our  disobedience. 

I. 

The  general  object  of  chastisement  is  fully  stated  in  the 
tenth  verse;  God  chastens  us  that  we  may  '■^  be  pai'takers  of  His 
holiness ;  "  but,  speaking  more  in  detail,  we  may  say  that  some- 
times the  chastening  comes,  to  awaken  7-epentance  for  sin  not  yet 
repented  of.  If  the  suffering  is  the  plain  and  unmistakeable 
consequence  of  our  \\Tong  doing,  our  attention  is  fixed  upon 

*  No  doubt  they  would  have  suffered  less  from  being  excluded  from 
religious  fellowship  with  their  unbelieving  countrymen,  had  their  Christian  life 
been  more  vigorous  ;  and,  perhaps,  they  would  not  at  this  time  have  provoked 
so  much  hostility  had  they,  from  the  very  beginning,  renounced  their  old 
Jewish  habits,  and  committed  themselves  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  to  Christ  and 
His  Church.  But  yet  the  immediate  causes  of  their  trouble  are  to  be  sought  in 
the  malicious  hatred  with  which  the  unbelieving  Jews  regarded  the  followers  of 
Him  who  had  been  crucified,  and  in  their  fanatical  enthusiasm  for  national 
independence. 


CJiastisemcnt.  257 

the  indolence,  the  presumption,  the  carelessness,  of  which, 
l)erhaps,  we  had  not  thought  much  at  the  time  ;  or  we  are 
stung  to  the  heart  by  a  sense  of  the  sinfulness  of  actions  or 
habits  which  conscience  had  been  bribed,  or  drugged,  or 
violently  forced,  not  to  condemn.  The  connection  between 
the  sin  and  the  trouble  is  sometimes  too  plain  to  be  over- 
looked. There  was  a  definite  offence  of  which  we  did  not 
heartily  repent,  a  particular  habit  of  sin  which  we  did  not  firmly 
resist,  and  now  we  see  the  result  of  it.  There  can  be  no 
mistake.  The  shadow  is  the  precise  counterpart  of  the  sub- 
stance ;  the  sorrow  is  the  natural  fruit  of  the  offence.  I  will 
not  give  illustrations,  for  these  might  divert  you  from  the  facts 
in  your  own  history  which  exactly  answer  to  what  I  am  saying. 
If  you  are  conscious  that  at  this  moment  you  are  suffering  from 
the  omission  or  careless  discharge  of  duty  in  past  years,  from 
self-indulgence,  from  self-will,  from  indolence,  from  violence  of 
temper,  from  pride, — "  despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the 
Lord ;  "  acknowledge  the  sin,  seek  God's  pardon  for  it ;  "  he  in 
subjection  unto  the  Father  of  spirits  and  live." 

But  very  often,  as  I  have  already  said,  there  may  be  no 
obvious  connection  between  our  suffering  and  any  acts  of  our 
own.  It  may  seem  to  come  direct  from  the  hand  of  God,  or 
may  be  the  result  of  the  sins  of  others,  instead  of  being  bitter 
fruit  growing  naturally  out  of  our  own  transgressions.  An 
accident  may  overtake  us  while  we  are  engaged  in  honest  work, 
or  while  we  are  taking  lawful  pleasure.  We  may  lose  half  our 
I)roperty  by  the  dishonesty  of  men  whom  we  were  perfectly 
justified  in  trusting.  A  bad  harvest,  a  foreign  war,  the  failure 
of  a  bank,  the  invention  of  a  new  manufacturing  process,  an 
unexpected  change  of  fashion,  might  suddenly  plunge  some  of 
you  into  serious  difficulties.  The  sin  of  a  relative  with  whose 
education  and  actions  we  have  never  had  anything  to  do,  may 
harrass  and  annoy  us.  We  may  fall  ill  ourselves,  or  sickness 
may  attack  a  child  or  a  parent,  from  causes  altogether  beyond 
our  control.  There  may  be  no  link  at  all,  so  far  as  we  can  see, 
between  anything  we  have  done  or  anything  we  have  omitted 
to  do,  and  some  of  our  greatest  troubles.  However  we  had 
acted,  it  would  have  been  all  the  same.  <, 


258  •  Chastisement. 

And  yet  even  these  troubles  may  be  "c/iasfiseinents"  and  may 
be  intended  to  awaken  us  to  repeiltance.  I  suppose  many  of  us 
are  conscious  that  when  we  are  in  full  health  and  strength,  and 
have  no  anxieties,  we  are  indisposed  to  think  seriously  about 
sin.  We  take  things  lightly ;  nothing  weighs  on  the  heart  long. 
We  may  be  keenly  interested  in  religious  truth,  and  very  zealous 
and  laborious  in  religious  work ;  we  may  like  to  sing  God's 
praise,  and  may  rejoice  in  the  bright  hopes  and  present  honours 
of  the  Christian  life ;  but,  perhaps,  are  hardly  in  the  mood  to 
think  gravely  enough  about  sin  and  God's  displeasure.  And  so 
it  happens  that  we  become  careless ;  some  foolish  and  wrong 
acts  we  never  notice  at  all ;  others  trouble  us,  but  not  enough. 
Then  the  "chastisement"  comes.  The  brightness  fades  away 
and  the  excitement  sinks,  the  sober  evening  gathers  round  us 
v/ith  its  grey  clouds  and  its  solemn  stillness ;  we  become 
different  men  altogether. 

There  are  very  few  good  men,  I  imagine,  who  have  nut 
discovered  in  times  of  trouble,  sins  of  which  they  had  never 
thought  before;  fewer  still,  who  have  not  felt  the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  sin,  as  they  had  never  felt  it  before.  Sorrow 
disposes  us  to  deeper  and  more  earnest  thought  about  our  own 
acts ;  creates  a  certain  "  mood  " — I  know  not  how  else  to  call 
it — in  which  the  heart  becomes  unusually  susceptible  to  right 
impressions  about  offences  against  the  Divine  Law,_  subdues 
self-sufficiency,  and  encourages  a  lowly  estimate  of  ourselves. 

If,  therefore,  we  are  not  sure, — and  who  can  be  sure  ? — that 
our  trouble  has  not  come  upon  us  as  a  chastisement,  it  becomes 
us  to  examine  seriously  our  past  lives,  our  present  habits,  and 
to  cry  to  God  to  search  us  and  try  us,  and  to  show  us  if  there 
be  any  wicked  way  in  us,  and  to  lead  us  in  the  way  everlasting. 

The  chastisement  may  last  even  after  repentance  has  been 
awakened;  and  that  for  many  reasons. 

We  may  need  it,  to  assist  us  in  mastering  the  failures  which 
it  has  revealed  to  us.  Perhaps  we  have  learnt  by  sorro^vful 
experience,  that  we  are  very  apt  to  grow  careless  and  forgetful 
about  the  sins  which  at  times  have  caused  us  great  self  reproach, 
and  which  we  have  confessed  with  bitter  sorrow  and  prostrate 


Chastisemejtt.  259 

Immiliation.  While  the  chastisement  lasts  the  offence  can 
hardly  be  forgotten,  and  to  be  kept  in  remembrance  of  it,  is  a 
great  help  to  overcoming  it. 

Or,  our  natural  temperament  may  be  so  joyous,  that  we  may 
need  to  have  it  checked  and  saddened.  Light-heartedness 
may  expose  us  to  certain  forms  of  temptation,  and  we  may  be 
safer  in  sickness  than  in  health,  safer  in  anxiety  than  when  free 
from  care,  safer  with  straitened  resources  than  with  the  means 
of  gratifying  all  our  tastes.  The  chastisement  may  remove  the 
temptations  to  which  we  are  most  exposed,  or  may  induce  that 
temper  of  mind  in  which  we  are  most  likely  to  overcome  them. 

Or,  the  chastisement  may  be  continued  for  the  sake  of  others. 
They  have  known  our  sin,  and  if  we  did  not  suffer  for  it  they 
might  think  too  lightly  of  it.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  have 
repented  ;  they  cannot  see  the  depth  of  our  sorrow ;  they  have 
not  heard  our  cries  to  God  for  mercy;  they  know  nothing  of 
the  stings  which  our  conscience  has  inflicted,  nothing  of  our  loss 
of  Divine  joy,  of  courage,  of  hopefulness,  of  rest;  and  the 
continuance  of  the  visible  chastisement  may  be  necessary  to 
warn  them  against  the  evils  into  which  we  have  fallen ;  and  if, 
even  after  our  repentance,  we  submit  with  uncomplaining 
patience  and  undiminished  trust  in  God, — while  they  are  warned 
by  our  suffering, — we  ourselves  shall  be  rapidly  growing  in  all 
the  elements  of  true  holiness. 

But  certain  difficulties  may  be  felt  by  some  of  you  about  this 
subject.  It  has  been  a  favourite  phrase  among  a  particular 
class  of  religionists  that  God  sees  no  sin  in  His  children  :  if 
this  be  true,  of  course  it  is  altogether  wrong  to  speak  of  His 
chastising  them.  I  confess  myself  unable  to  understand  what  a 
rational,  thoughtful  man  can  mean  by  such  a  phrase  as  that. 
If  there  is  sin  in  the  children  of  God,  He  must  see  it.  If  He 
did  not  see  it.  He  would  not  forgive  it.  If  He  did  not  see  it, 
He  would  not  give  them  the  strength  they  need  to  overcome  it. 
It  destroys  the  reality  of  our  religious  life,  if  we  suppose  that 
God  does  not  regard  us  exactly  as  we  are ;  as  weak,  if  we  are 


26o  Chastisement. 

weak,  strong  if  we  are  strong,  holy  if  we  are  holy,  sinful  if  we 
are  sinful.  He  has  "searched  us  and  known"  us;  He  is  "ac- 
quainted with  all  our  ways."  He  "  knows  "  our  "  labour  "  and 
our  "patience."  He  "knows,"  too,  if  we  have  "left  our  first 
love,"  if  our  "works  are  not  perfect  before  Him,"  if  we  are 
"  wretched,  miserable,  poor,  bHnd,  naked,"  while  we  "  think  we 
have  need  of  nothing."  He  sees  us  as  we  are ;  if  in  any  of  His 
children  He  sees  no  sin,  it  is  because  there  is  no  sin  to  see. 

And  yet  it  may  be  asked.  Has  not  God  laid  all  our  sins  on 
Christ?  If  He  has,  why  are  we  chastised  for  them?  Does 
He  not  forgive  the  sins  of  all  beHevers  ?  If  He  does,  why  have 
they  to  suffer  for  them  ? 

These  difficulties  are  very  similar  to  those  which  are  felt  in 
relation  to  the  future  judgment.  Those  who  cannot  understand 
why  Christians  are  chastised  for  their  transgressions,  cannot 
understand  why  Christians  should  have  to  give  account  of  their 
deeds  before  the  bar  of  God,  whether  they  be  good  or  whether 
they  be  evil.  I  have  often  had  occasion  to  deal  at  length  with 
this  subject ;  and  to  enter  fully  into  the  wide  and  deep  discussion 
which  it  involves,  would  lead  me  far  away  from  the  practical 
truths  taught  in  the  passage  we  are  now  considering.  A  few 
sentences  must  indicate  what  the  truth  really  is. 

It  is  the  clear  teaching  of  Scripture  that  Christ  has  atoned 
for  the  sins  of  all  mankind ;  and  that  in  consequence  of  His 
atonement  God  is  released  from  the  moral  necessity  of  con- 
demning us  to  eternal  death  because  of  our  transgressions. 

To  every  one  that  trusts  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God  has 
l)romised  eternal  life.  Faith  secures  immortal  salvation;  the 
curse  is  revoked,  and  the  soul  is  regenerated  and  "  made  meet 
for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  Unbelief  is  the  only 
sin  which  now  dooms  any  soul  that  hears  of  Christ,  to  eternal 
destruction. 

But  there  is  a  displeasure  in  the  Divine  heart  when  the 
believer  sins,  although  that  displeasure  may  not  rise  into  the 
wrath  which  would  inflict  the  last  penalty  of  transgression. 
There  is  estrangement  between  the  soul  of  the  believer  and 
God  while  any  sin  remains  unrepented  of,  although  that 
estrangement  may  not  issue  in  complete  and  hopeless  alienation. 


Chastisement.  261 

So  long  as  faith  continues,  the  heart  is  looking  to  Christ  not 
merely  for  escape  from  final  ruin,  but  for  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Cihost  to  live  a  good  life,  and  evil  does  not  triumph  over  good  ; 
and  yet  if  there  is  sin  for  which  no  adecjuate  sorrow  is  felt,  and 
against  which  no  firm  resistance  is  maintained,  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  is  resisted,  and  God  is  displeased.  For  such  sins  as 
do  not  separate  the  soul  from  Christ  altogether,  there  is  chas- 
tisement, that  the  soul  may  be  brought  to  repentance,  and  that 
the  displeasure  of  God  may  pass  away.  For  the  exclusion  of 
Christ  and  the  Spirit  from  the  soul  altogether,  there  is  not  chas- 
tisement, but  condemnation. 

II. 

In  what  spirit  chastisement  should  be  borne,  has  already 
been  partly  indicated.  We  must  not  '■''despise''''  it.  This  is 
intended  to  forbid  that  hardened  defiance  of  suffering  which 
arises  from  self-will,  and  from  a  proud  reluctance  either  to 
acknowledge  that  vv'e  have  deserved  chastisement,  or  to  be 
made  better  by  it. 

We  must  not  "faint"  when  we  are  rebuked  of  God.  This 
is  intended  to  condemn  that  moral  v/eakness  which  is  altogether 
crushed  by  pain.  The  soul  that  can  bear  to  sin,  is  often  unable 
to  bear  any  adequate  punishment  for  sin.  It  faints.  There  is 
no  care  for  any  duty,  no  courage  to  meet  any  difficulty,  no  hope 
that  things  will  ever  become  better,  no  strength  to  remember 
the  cause  of  the  suffering,  no  disposition  to  do  anything  except 
to  lie  and  moan  under  it. 

We  must  "be  in  subjection  nnto  the  Father  of  spirits."  There 
must  be  no  unwillingness  to  think  of  our  sorrow  as  being 
intended  for  chastisement,  no  resentment  against  God  as  though 
He  had  no  right  to  punish.  Your  children  do  not  take  punish- 
ment rightly,  if  they  ignore  the  fact  that  it  is  punishment,  or  if 
they  resist  and  revolt  against  your  authority.  And,  as  I  have 
already  said,  we  are  sometimes  very  unwilling  to  think  that  God 
is  really  chastening  us,  and  are  even  disposed  to  believe  that, 
since  He  has  forgiven  us  for  Christ's  sake,  He  has  surrendered 


262  Chastisement. 

the  right  to  chasten.  We  seem  to  imagine  that  He  is  simply- 
trying  experiments  with  us — seeing  how  many  strokes  we  can 
bear  without  crying  out,  what  pleasures  we  can  sacrifice  without 
tears.     That  is  not  being  in  subjection. 

Nor  must  there  be  impatience  or  distrust.  We  must  accept 
the  chastisement  without  charging  it  with  excessive  severity, 
without  distrusting  the  love  of  Him  from  whom  it  comes. 

in. 

The  reasons,  alleged  or  implied  in  this  passage,  for  bearing 
chastisement  in  a  right  spirit,  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few 
closing  sentences. 

It  is  "  chastisement^''  the  result  of  our  own  sin,  not  of  God's 
caprice,  and  should,  therefore,  be  received  humbly  and  uncom- 
plainingly. 

It  is  God's  chastisement;  He  has  a  right  to  correct  us  for 
our  faults.  "  If  we  gave  reiference  to  the  fathers  of  our  flesh, 
much  rather  should  tve  be  in  subjection "  to  Him.  All  the 
authority  they  had  over  us  in  our  childhood,  He  has  over  us,  as 
spiritual  and  immortal  creatures. 

It  is  inseparable  from  Divine  sonship.  If  we  are  in  God's 
household,  we  must  come  under  His  discipline.  We  are  "  not 
sons  "  at  all,  if  nothing  is  done  to  rebuke  our  sins  and  to  dis- 
cipline us  to  holiness.  It  is  a  Father  who  is  troubled  by  our 
imperfections  who  chastises  us,  not  an  enemy  who  is  thirsting 
for  revenge. 

The  chastisement  is  as  wise  as  it  is  loving.  It  originates  in 
no  mistake, — it  is  of  the  right  kind, — and  is  neither  excessive 
nor  too  prolonged.  Our  earthly  "fathers  chastened  us"  at  their 
discretion,  as  it  "  seemed"  good  to  them,  sometimes,  perhaps, 
when  we  were  not  guilty  at  all ;  sometimes,  beyond  our  desert ; 
and  sometimes  injudiciously;  so  that  sometimes  we  were  injured 
rather  than  benefited  by  their  chastening.  Their  authority  was 
but  "for  a  few  days"  and  the  results  of  their  discipline  were 
doubtful ;  but  God  makes  no  blunders,  when  He  chastens  it  is 
"for  our  holifiess." 

Finally,  it  is  well  that  we  should  contrast  the  present  suffering 


CJiastiscnicnt.  263 

with  its  ultimate  effect.  It  brings  pain,  anxiety,  restlessness  ; 
discomposes  our  minds  ;  destroys  our  peace  ;  desolates  our  out- 
ward happiness.  From  its  nature  it  neither  is,  nor  "  seems  to 
be,  joyous,  but  grievous."  As  the  ground  is  first  ruthlessly  broken 
up  and  disturbed  by  the  plough,  and  its  depths  laid  open  to  the 
wind  and  the  rain  and  the  cold,  and  is  then  tormented  by  the 
harrow;  so  are  our  hearts  bruised  and  w^ounded  by  chastisement, 
and  we  think  that  nothing  can  compensate  for  the  suffering ; 
but,  by  and  bye,  there  come  calm  autumn  days,  and  the  golden 
corn  waves  peacefully  in  the  sun. 

Or,  at  present  we  are  like  vines  in  the  spring,  and  the  sharp 
knife  comes  upon  us,  cutting  off  our  branches,  and  making  our 
souls  bleed ;  we  quiver  under  the  pain ;  through  every  bough, 
and  down  into  the  very  roots  of  our  nature,  the  keen  anguish  is 
throbbing,  and  we  think  no  quietness  and  ease  can  ever  return 
to  us.  But  in  a  few  months  it  will  be  all  forgotten.  The  wounds 
will  have  healed.  A  richer,  fuller  life  will  flow  through  every 
fibre  of  our  being ;  and,  amidst  the  luxuriant  foliage,  will  hang 
the  beautiful  clusters, — no  rude  winds  disturbing  them, — no 
sharp  frosts  nipping  them, — all  danger  past, — all  need  of  pruning 
over, — "  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  P  The  need  of  chasten- 
ing will  have  ceased ;  we  shall  be  "  made  partakers  of  God's 
holiness"  and  have  fellowship  with  His  tranquil  and  everlasting 
bliss. 


MOUNT  SINAI  AND  MOUNT  SION. 

"Wherefore  lift  up  the  hands  that  hang  down,  and  the  feeble  knees;  and 
make  straight  paths  for  your  feet,  lest  that  which  is  lamed  be  turned 
out  of  the  way  ;"  &c. — Hebrews  xii,  12-29. 

The  Hebrews  who  had  become  faint  and  weary  under  the 
Divine  correction,  and  were  ready  to  abandon  their  faith  in 
Christ,  are  now  exhorted  to  show  greater  manUness,  courage, 
and  vigour.  "  Lift  up  the  hands  which  hang  down,  and  the 
feeble  knees."  Their  troubles  are  not  a  reason  for  despair. 
They  are  only  enduring  the  chastisement  by  which  all  the 
sons  of  God  are  corrected  for  sin  and  disciplined  to  holiness. 
If  they  bear  it  well,  it  will  yield  the  "peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness." 

They  are  charged  to  be  more  resolute  and  simple-hearted  in 
their  obedience  to  Christ.  It  is  implied  that  their  difficulties 
had  been  increased  by  their  indecision.  A  definite  and  im- 
moveable purpose  to  be  true  to  their  Christian  profession  at  all 
costs,  would  cause  new  strength  and  hope  to  rise  up  throughout 
the  Church ;  the  feeble  and  irresolute  would  find  inspiration 
and  vigour  in  the  firmness  of  their  brethren.  Without  that, 
many  would  fall  away  altogether.  "  Make  straight  paths  for 
your  feet," — let  there  be  an  unhesitating  and  irrevocable  choice 
of  the  perfectly  right  course ;  "  lest  that  which  is  lame  be  turned 
out  of  the  luay" — any  other  conduct  will  be  full  of  danger  and 
temptation  to  those  whose  faith  is  weak ;  "  but  let  it  rather  be 
healed" — by  a  stem  fidelity  to  Christ  on  the  part  of  the  church 
generally,  its  feebler  members  will  not  only  be  kept  from 
apostasy,  but  will  become  strong. 


Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion.  265 

There  are  two  principles  here,  which  are  of  the  greatest 
practical  importance  : — 

(i)  The  difficulties  of  a  religious  life  are  felt  the  most,  by 
those  who  shrink  from  complete  and  unreserved  devotion  to 
God;  "the  straight  paths"  of  perfect  loyalty  to  Christ  are,  for 
many  reasons,  easier  to  walk  in,  than  the  crooked  paths  of 
compromise ;  and  this  is  especially  true  for  those  who  are 
deficient  in  moral  and  religious  strength. 

(2)  There  are  many  men  who  will  serve  God  well,  or 
drift  away  from  Him  altogether,  according  to  the  spirit  and 
temper  of  the  particular  church  to  which  they  belong.  They 
will  stand  fast  if  the  church  is  resolute  in  its  fidelity;  if  not,  they 
will  fall  away.  The  communion  of  saints  is  the  strength  and 
defence  of  their  religious  life. 

The  inspired  writer  goes  on  to  say,  that  at  such  a  time 
of  peril,  all  personal  estrangements  among  Christian  men  must 
cease ;  that  they  must  strive  after  "  holiness;"  that  there  must  be 
vigilance  "lest  any  fail"  to  obtain  the  favour  of  God,  which  can 
be  won  only  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing;  lest  any 
iniquity  rise  up  among  them  unchecked,  like  a  bitter  poisonous 
plant,  and  thereby  the  "  many"  in  the  Church  be  betrayed  into 
sin ;  lest  there  be  among  them  "  any  sens  i  fa  I  person"  or  any 
"  like  Esau,"  who  profanely  despised  the  promises  of  God,  and 
yielded  himself  to  the  instincts  and  appetites  of  the  flesh, 
uncontrolled  by  the  fear  of  losing  his  birthright.  "  Follow  peace 
ivith  all,  and  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 
Looking  diligently  lest  any  fail  of  the  grace  or  favour  of  God ;  lest 
a?iy  root  of  bitterness  springing  up  trouble  you,  and  thereby  many 
he  defiled;  lest  there  be  any  fornicator  or  profane  person  as  Esau, 
who  for  one  morsel  of  meat  sold  his  birthright." 

It  is  clearly  the  writer's  intention  to  warn  the  Christian  Jev/s 
against  repeating  the  folly  and  guilt  of  Esau's  sin.  As  the 
eldest  son  of  Jacob  had  a  birthright  and  sold  it,  so  they  who 
were  God's  firstborn,  the  "heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with 
Christ,"  might  cast  away  and  lose  for  ever,  their  diviner  honours 
and  nobler  inheritance.  Their  decision  for  Christ  or  against 
Him  would  be  final ;  it  would  not  admit  of  being  revoked  ;  its 


266  Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion. 

consequences  would  be  irreversible.  In  the  unavailing  sorrow 
of  Esau,  they  might  see  foreshadowed  their  own  miserable 
doom  :  '■'■ye  ktioTV  that  after-wards  when  he  wished  to  inherit  the 
blessing  he  found  no  place  of  repentance,  though  he  sought  it  care- 
fully with  tears."  Then  follows  the  closing  warning  against 
apostasy. 

The  awful  grandeur  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  wilder- 
ness had  left  a  profound  and  imperishable  impression  on  the 
Jewish  race.  It  suggested  to  psalmists  and  prophets  their 
sublimest  imagery.  "  The  earth  shook  and  trembled :  the 
foundations  also  of  the  hills  moved  and  were  shaken,  because 
He  was  wroth.  *  ■"  He  bowed  the  Heavens  also  and  came 
down ;  and  darkness  was  under  His  feet.  And  He  rode  upon 
a  cherub  and  did  fly ;  yea,  He  did  fly  upon  the  wings  of  the 
wind.  He  made  darkness  His  secret  place ;  His  pavilion  round 
about  Him  were  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies. 
■•'  '■'  '■'  The  Lord  also  thundered  in  the  heavens,  and  the 
Highest  gave  His  voice;  hailstones  and  stones  of  fire." 
(Psalm  xviii,  7-13.)  "  O,  that  Thou  wouldest  rend  the  heavens 
and  come  down,  that  tlie  mountains  might  flow  down  at  Thy 
presence."  (Isaiah  Ixiv,  i.)  Many  other  passages  might  be 
([uoted  from  the  Old  Testament  to  show  that  when  poets  and 
prophets  longed  for  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  power  and 
glory,  or  celebrated  deliverances  ^vrought  by  the  Divine  hand 
for  individuals  or  the  whole  nation,  their  thoughts  clothed 
themselves  in  the  imagery  afforded  by  the  Sinaitic  revelation. 
Let  us  try  to  recall  what  that  revelation  was. 

For  several  centuries  the  Jewish  people  had  been  feeding 
their  flocks,  or  building  vast  cities,  in  the  flat,  luxuriant  pastures 
which  formed  the  north-eastern  province  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 
Their  ancestors  had  lived  in  a  bolder  and  wilder  country,  but 
the  generation  which  left  Egypt  had  seen  the  hills  only  afar  off. 
No  sooner,  however,  had  they  left  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea, 
than  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  scenery  which  must 
have  powerfully  affected  their  imagination,  and  prepared  them 
for  the  sublimity  and  terrors  of  Sinai.     Slowly  and  painfully 


Moufit  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion.  267 

they  marched  upwards,  day  after  day,  through  the  rugged 
passes  and  winding  valleys  of  a  desert  mountain  region,  until 
they  reached  the  plain  lying  in  front  of  the  perpendicular  cliffs 
of  Horeb.  There,  they  were  shut  in,  on  nearly  every  side,  by 
mighty  walls  of  rock, — stern,  naked,*  and  desolate.  The  silence 
of  the  desert  rested  on  the  camp ;  and  in  a  dreadful  solitude 
they  were  to  meet  God. 

They  were  told  that  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  the  Lord 
would  come  down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  upon  Mount 
Sinai ;  and  they  were  to  make  ready  for  the  vision  of  His  g\orf. 
A  new  element  of  terror  was  added,  by  the  command  that  the 
cliffs  of  Horeb  were  to  be  fenced  round  against  all  approach, 
and  that  ^'  if  so  muck  as  a  beast  touch  the  mountain  it  shall  be 
stoned.'^  This  they  '^  could  not  endure;"  {y.  20)  it  made  them 
feel  in  what  mysterious  and  fearful  proximity  they  stood  to  the 
invisible  presence  of  God. 

The  morning  of  the  third  day  came ;  and  we  can  imagine  the 
agitation  and  wondering  awe  which  filled  every  heart,  while 
waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  God  ;  at  last  they  saw  dense 
black  clouds  sinking  on  the  mountain ;  then  came  flashing 
lightnings ;  presently  the  earth  shook  under  the  shock  of  pealing 
thunders ;  then  came  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  long  and  loud, 
streaming  through  the  camp,  and  echoing  from  the  surrounding 
hills ;  and  "  the  Lord  descended  in  fire,"  and  it  seemed  that  the 
mountain  itself  was  burning,  and  "  the  smoke  went  up  like  the 
smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  mountain  trembled  greatly."  And 
"  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud,  and  of  the  thick 
■darkness"  came  "  a  great  voice ;"  God  began  to  speak  to  the 
people,  and  to  declare  His  law.  But  when  ten  commandments 
had  been  given,  they  could  bear  no  more ;  they  removed  and 
•stood  afar  off  And  the  heads  of  the  tribes  came  to  Moses  and 
said,  "  We  have  seen  this  day  that  God  doth  talk  with  man,  and 
he  liveth.  Now,  therefore,  why  should  we  die  ?  for  this  great 
fire  will  consume  us  :  if  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  any  more, 
then  shall  we  die,"  (Deut,  v,  24-25);  and  they  ^'entreated  that 
tJie  word  should  not  be  spoken  to  tketn  any  more  "  (v.  19). 

To  recall  the  splendours  and  portents  which  accompanied 


268  Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion. 

the  giving  of  the  law,  at  the  very  close  of  a  protracted  argu- 
ment against  the  permanence  of  the  Mosaic  institutions,  and  on 
behalf  of  the  Christian  faith,  was  a  bold  and  perilous  thing  ;  but 
the  inspired  writer  knew  the  strength  of  his  position,  and  could 
rely  on  the  impressions,  far  more  awful  and  glorious  than  the 
visible  terrors  of  Sinai  had  jDroduced,  which  the  new  revelation 
had  made  upon  all  believers.  He  knew  that  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  these  Jewish 
Christians  had  been  emancipated  from  the  dominion  of  the  senses, 
and  had  entered  into  the  spiritual  world ;  that  to  their  purified 
and  invigorated  vision  "  things  seen  and  temporal"  had  vanished 
away,  and  they  had  stood  face  to  face  with  things  "  unseen 
and  eternal."  They,  themselves,  had  not  forgotten  the  time 
when  they  were  "  enlightened,"  and  "  were  made  partakers  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  felt  the  "powers"  of  the  new  and  spiritual 
kingdom  to  which  all  believers  belong.  Even  now,  though 
their  faith  had  become  weak,  and  their  hearts  treacherous,  and 
the  glories  which  once  encompassed  them  were  dim  and  ready 
to  fade  utterly  away,  this  lofty  appeal  to  what  they  had  "  seen  " 
with  their  "eyes"  and  "looked  upon,"  would  rekindle  the  glow 
of  almost  extinguished  fires,  and  recall  the  joy  and  fear  of  their 
early  religious  life. 

Sixteen  centuries  ago,  Moses  had  "  brought  forth  the  people 
out  of  the  camp  to  meet  with  God"  before  Mount  Sinai 
(Exod.  xix,  17);  "but  ye  have  drawn  near  to  Mount  Sion,  and 
to  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  J^erusalem,  and  to 
innumerable  hosts,  to  the  festal  assembly  of  angels,  and  the  church 
of  the  first-born  which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  J^udgc 
of  all,  afid  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the 
mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  which 
speaketh  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel." 

We  might  examine  in  detail  this  vivid  contrast  between  the 
new  revelation  and  the  old.  God  revealed  Himself  to  your 
fathers  on  the  wild  and  rugged  heights  of  Horeb ;  but  "  ye  have 
drawn  near  to  Mount  Sion,"  and  seen  the  towers  and  pinnacles 
of  the  glorious  temple  of  the  Most  High.  God  came  to  them 
in  the  dreary  solitudes  of  the  desert ;  but  ye  have  drawn  near 


Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion.  269 

*'  to  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  yerusalem"  in  which 
the  nations  of  the  saved  walk  in  white  raiment,  and  dwell  in 
palaces  of  blessedness  and  splendour.  At  Sinai  the  angels  were 
in  chariots  of  lire,  and  increased  the  awfulness  of  the  scene ;  but 
for  you  they  are  gathered  as  on  a  day  of  triumph,  with  songs  of 
joy  and  golden  harps,  and  their  faces  bright  with  love  and  bliss. 
Your  fathers  were  a  chosen  nation,  blest  with  lofty  privileges  ; 
but  you  have  drawn  near  to  "  the  church  ofthefirst-bo7-n,  whose 
names  arc  ivritten  in  heaven^'' — a  spiritual  community,  scattered 
over  many  lands,  poor,  persecuted,  despised,  but  enrolled  on 
high,  invested  with  the  dignity,  and  heirs  of  the  glory,  which 
belong  to  the  first-born  of  God. 

Your  fathers  stood  in  the  Divine  presence  to  receive  a  law 
which,  if  they  kept,  would  bring  them,  at  some  remote  and 
unknown  day,  the  rewards  of  obedience ;  but  you  have  drawn 
near  "  to  God  the  Judge  of  all" — you  knew  that  the  hour  of 
your  salvation  was  come,  and  you  waited  without  dread  to  hear 
from  His  lips  the  sentence  which  would  determine  your  ever- 
lasting condition.  And  "  the  spirits'"  of  the  ancient  saints 
^'  made  perfect"  at  last  by  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ, 
were  there.  And  instead  of  Moses,  "  J^esus  " — '^  the  new 
covenant"  in  the  place  of  the  old; — and  ^"^ the  blood"  which 
appeals  to  God  for  mercy,  not  for  vengeance,  and  which  cleansed 
you  from  the  infirmity  which  would  have  hindered  your  approach 
to  God. 

But  the  great  interest  of  this  passage  lies  in  this, — that  it 
strikingly  illustrates  the  spiritual  life  of  the  early  Church.  It  is 
not  to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  burst  of  impassioned  and  imagina- 
tive eloquence,  although  it  assumes  a  highly-wrought  rhetorical 
form.  It  is  the  expression,  though  perhaps  the  fullest  and  most 
remarkable,  of  what  we  know  from  other  parts  of  the  New 
Testament,  was  the  actual  experience  of  apostolic  times.  It 
explains  the  strength,  the  joy,  the  spiritual  triumph,  of  the  first 
Christians. 

There  is  a  singular  omission,  I  think,  in  most  modern  preach- 
ing, of  certain  truths  which  occupy  a  very  large  space  in  the 


2/0  Mount  Smai  and  Mount  Sion. 

pages  of  the  four  Gospels,  and  which  appear  in  a  somewhat 
different  form  in  the  Apostohcal  Epistles. 

John  the  Baptist  preached  that  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was 
at  hand ;"  Christ  Himself  preached  "  the  gospel  of  the  king- 
dom." The  twelve  were  commissioned  to  preach  the  same. 
When  the  seventy  were  sent  out,  the  solitary  testimony  they 
were  to  bear  wherever  they  came,  was  this, — "  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  come  nigh  unto  you."  A  remarkable  series  of  parables 
illustrates  the  nature  and  laws  of  "  the  kingdom."  To  the  dis- 
ciples it  was  given  to  know  the  "  mystery  of  the  kingdom  of 
God."  If  a  man's  heart  was  drawn  to  Christ,  Christ  said  to  him, 
"  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God."  The  blessing 
pronounced  on  the  poor  in  spirit  is  that  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven"  is  theirs.  The  authority  of  the  apostles  is  represented 
under  the  figure  of  the  keys  of  the  "  kingdom  of  heaven."  This 
subject  was  so  prominent  in  the  preaching  of  Christ  and  His 
followers,  that  at  one  time  the  people  thought  that  "  the  king- 
dom of  God  would  immediately  appear ;"  and  when  Christ  was 
hanging  on  the  cross, — all  His  hopes  apparently  defeated,  and 
His  mission  ended  in  miserable  defeat  and  shame — the  repent- 
ing thief  cried  to  Him,  "  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou 
comest  into  Thy  kingdom."  After  His  resurrection  He  talked 
mth  the  apostles  "  of  the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of 
God."  Immediately  before  his  ascension  He  asserted  that  all 
power  "  had  been  given  to  Him  in  heaven  and  on  earth," 
and  this  was  the  basis  of  the  apostolic  commission  to  baptize 
and  to  teach  all  nations.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  pro- 
claimed that  Christ  was  "  Prince,"  as  well  as  "  Saviour ;"  and 
John,  in  the  Apocalypse,  spoke  of  himself  as  the  companion  of 
the  saints  "  in  tribulation,  and  in  the  kingdo7n  and  patience  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

In  a  most  important  sense,  every  m.ember  of  the  human  race 
is  a  subject  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  When  He  ascended  to  the 
Father,  "  the  heathen"  were  made  His  "inheritance,"  and  "  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth"  "His  possession."  Prophecy  had 
declared  that  He  should  have  "  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and 
from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth" — and  the  promise  has 
been  fulfilled.    But  under  His  rule  there  are  "  oppressors"  whom 


Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion.  271 

Ho  has  '*' to  break  in  pieces,"  "enemies"  who  have  to  "lick 
the  dust."  As  the  disciples  of  Christ  are  "in  the  world"  but 
not  "  of  the  world,"  belong  to  the  human  race  by  birth,  and 
place,  and  external  relationships,  but  are  exalted  above  it  by 
the  power  of  a  new  life ;  so  the  irreligious  are  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  but  not  of  it ;  they  are  His  subjects  by  God's  appoint- 
ment,— by  the  moral  constitution  under  which  they  are  born  ; 
but  they  sink  beneath  their  high  estate  by  wilful  sin  and 
unbelief. 

To  them  pertain  the  "  adoption  and  the  glory,"  and  the  new 
"  covenant,"  and  the  "  grace  of  the  Gospel,"  and  "  the  service  of 
God,"  and  the  "promises;"  but  "  they  are  not  all  Israel  which 
are  of  Israel."  They  "  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  may 
even  be  said  that  they  do  not  belong  to  it ;  as  dead  branches 
do  not  belong  to  a  living  tree ;  as  rebels  against  royal  authority 
do  not  belong  to  the  state,  although  they  were  born  of  its  best 
blood,  live  on  its  soil,  speak  its  language,  have  been  disciplined 
by  its  customs  and  laws,  and  might,  through  the  mercy  of  their 
prince,  obtain  on  their  submission,  not  only  the  protection 
afforded  to  the  meanest  loyal  subjects,  but  the  splendour  and 
rank  which  were  theirs  by  their  birth.  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God." 

But  the  spiritual  birth,  with  the  forgiveness  of  all  past  sin,  was 
offered  by  the  apostles  to  all  mankind ;  and  their  epistles  imply 
that,  as  the  result  of  it,  Christians  had  passed  into  new  regions 
of  life, — had  received,  so  to  speak,  new  senses, — so  that  they 
saw  and  heard  what  other  men  could  not  see  or  hear, — had  dis- 
covered that  they  were  surrounded  on  every  side  by  the  insti- 
tutions and  powers  of  an  eternal  kingdom,  of  which  they  were 
the  subjects,  and  Christ  the  king. 

The  full  extent  and  perfect  glory  of  this  kingdom  they  did 
not  know ;  but  they  never  thought  of  it  as  limited  to  believers 
living  in  their  own  times.  They  knew  that  angels  and  men,  the 
living  and  the  dead,  have  a  common  Lord,  and  do  homage 
before  the  same  throne.  The  thin  walls  of  their  mortal  flesh 
did  not  separate  them  from  their  brethren  who  had  departed 
to  be  with  Christ.  "  That  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  Spirit." 
God  had  already  "delivered  them  from  the  power  of  darkness," 


2/2  Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion. 

and  "  translated  them  into  the  kingdom  of  His  dear  Son."  In 
Christ,  this  world  and  the  next,  things  seen  and  things  unseen 
were  no  longer  divided  by  strong  and  firm  lines  of  distinction. 
"  The  middle  wall  of  partition"'''  was  broken  down.  God  had 
"  gathered  together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both  which  are 
in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth,  even  in  Him."  They,  too, 
Avere  "  of  the  household  of  God."  Their  "  conversation "  was 
"  in  heaven."  They  "  sat  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus."  One  kingdom  included  all  the  saints  on  earth,  and  "all 
principality,  power,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is 
named  not  only  in  this  world  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come." 
Already  they  had  "  come  to  Mount  Sion,  to  the  city  of  the  iiving 
God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem T 

That  many  of  us  have  failed  to  enter  the  high  and  lofty  life 
Avhich  such  declarations  as  these  represent,  must  not  induce  us 
to  impoverish  and  degrade  the  plain  language  of  inspired  men. 
In  striving  to  recover  the  habits  of  thought  characteristic  of 
apostolic  times,  we  may,  perhaps,  be  assisted  to  recover  the 
fervour  of  their  devotion  and  the  energy  of  their  labours. 

The  recognition  of  the  undivided  unity  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  will  be  an  aid  to  holiness.  If  it  is  a  difference  of  outward 
circumstance  rather  than  of  true  relationship  to  God,  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  living  from  the  dead,  we  are  bound  to  love  Him 
with  an  affection  as  ardent,  trust  in  Him  with  a  faith"  as  firm, 
and  serve  Him  with  an  obedience  as  cheerful,  as  the  spirits  of 
the  just  themselves.  We  are  under  the  same  sceptre  and  the 
same  laws ;  it  is  only  a  narrow  brook  which  runs  between  the 
bright  and  pleasant  land  where  they  live  and  ours  !  We  must 
speak  their  language,  and  like  them  walk  in  light.  They  must 
not  be  troubled  with  the  noise  of  our  discordant  passions,  or  by 
the  sight  of  our  unseemly  acts.  We  may  hear,  even  now,  the 
music  of  their  songs,  as  the  dwellers  in  the  valley  may  hear  the 
Sabbath  bells  of  village  churches  on  the  neighbouring  hills ;  we 
may  join  their  worship  and  share  their  joy. 

*  I  need  hardly  say  that  the  true  reference  of  this  passage  is  to  the  breaking 
down  of  the  distinctions  between  Jew  and  Gentile. 


Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion.  273 

Courage  and  strength  in  Christ's  service  will  receive  inspira- 
tion and  stimulus  from  the  same  source.  We  are  no  longer 
maintaining  a  doubtful  conflict  with  unequal  forces  against  the 
Avorld,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  The  saints  of  every  generation 
and  all  the  thrones  of  heaven  are  on  our  side.  The  great 
leaders  of  the  church  in  past  ages  are  not  lost  to  us  ;  they  seem 
to  be  lying  dead  at  our  feet,  but  they  are  living  still,  and  near 
at  hand,  mightier  and  nobler  than  ever  before.  When  dis- 
heartened and  dismayed,  we  can  turn  our  eyes,  and  look  upon 
the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophets,  the  glorious  company  of 
the  apostles,  the  noble  army  of  martyrs.  We,  who  are  on 
earth,  are  but  a  single  division  of  Christ's  mighty  army ;  it  is 
only  against  our  ranks  that  the  storm  of  the  battle  is  raging ; 
we  may  hear  already  the  shouts  of  victory  from  every  other  part 
of  the  field. 

It  is  surely  an  error  to  suppose  that  the  life  of  faith  in  things 
unseen,  includes  no  remembrance  of  the  holy  angels  and 
glorified  saints  who  dwell  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
Most  High.  Our  vision  is  not  strong  enough  as  yet  to  endure 
a  fixed  and  uninterrupted  gaze  on  the  Divine  glory.  We  shall 
sink  exhausted  under  the  too  ambitious  effort.  But,  when  the 
eye  of  the  soul  is  too  weak  to  bear  the  direct  splendours  of  the 
Godhead,  we  may  still  look  on  the  bright  forms  of  His  servants, 
and,  in  fellowship  with  them,  may  catch  the  spirit  and  learn  the 
service  of  the  skies. 

The  remaining  verses  of  the  chapter  contain  an  earnest 
exliortation  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  who  now  speaks,  not 
as  of  old  from  the  summit  of  an  earthly  mountain  to  the 
outward  sense,  but  from  Heaven  itself  to  man's  very  soul. 
The  unwillingness  of  the  Jewish  people  to  hear  the  law  from 
God's  own  lips  is  treated  as  representing  the  rebellion  and 
disobedience  of  their  subsequent  history;  and  it  is  urged  "z/" 
they  escaped  not  who  refused  Him  that  spake  on  earth,  inicch  more 
shall  we  not  escape  if  we  turn  away  from  Him  that  speaketh  from 
heaven^  This,  indeed,  is  the  burden  of  the  whole  Epistle — the 
certain  and  irretrievable  ruin  which  must  come  upon  Christian 
men  who  apostatise  from  Christ,     This  dark  and  terrible  truth 

T 


274  Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion. 

breaks  through  the  course  of  the  argument  again  and  again  ;  it 
returns  and  returns  hke  the  echoes  of  thunder  among  the  hills. 
"  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  V  "  Your 
fathers  tempted  me — I  was  grieved  with  that  generation — I 
sware  in  my  Avrath  they  shall  not  enter  into  my  rest ;  let  us 
therefore  fear."  "  If  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for 
sins,  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indig- 
nation." "  Esau  found  no  place  of  repentance."  And  now"// 
they  escaped  not,  much  more  shall  not  we  escape."  To  us,  God 
has  come  nearer  tlian  to  them.  He  has  revealed  to  us  the 
glory  of  His  kingdom ;  He  has  exhausted  all  motives  to  love, 
to  trust,  to  fidehty,  to  obedience.  He  has  told  us  all  that  is  in 
His  heart.  He  has  made  His  last  effort.  "  If  we  turn  away" 
our  doom  is  finally  sealed.  It  is  as  if  His  angels  should  revolt 
in  heaven — as  if  the  spirits  of  the  just  should  abjure  their 
allegiance  to  His  throne. 

"  The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand."  "  His  voice  then  shook 
the  earth,  but  noiv  hath  He  promised,  saying,  yet  o?ice  more  I 
shake  not  the  earth  only  but  also  heaven."  In  His  last  revelation 
to  mankind,  God's  purposes  are  reaching  their  perfect  accom- 
plishment. Empires  which  had  overshadowed  the  whole  earth 
had  decayed  and  perished.  The  institutions  and  laws  which 
God  Himself  had  originally  established,  the  temple  He  had 
consecrated,  the  priests  He  had  anointed,  were  now  ready  to 
vanish  away. 

The  heart  of  man  was  sick  and  weary  of  perpetual  change. 
But  at  last  there  is  set  up  "  an  everlasting  dominion  which 
shall  not  pass  away,"  "  a  kingdom  which  shall  not  be  destroyed." 
All  human  civiHzations,  and  philosophies,  and  religious  beliefs, 
— all  forms  of  political  power,  however  venerable,  however 
mighty,  which  withstand  its  progress,  are  destined  to  destruc- 
tion. Ancient  prophecy  had  foretold  a  final  overthrow  of 
whatever  could  ''  be  shaken"— \!azX.  only  the  eternal  and  un- 
changeable might  remain.  That  overthrow  had  already  begun. 
Centuries  might  roll  by,  before  it  was  consummated,  but  the 
"  voice  which  shook  the  earth  "  in  the  old  time,  would  continue 
to  '^ shake"  all  things  visible  and  invisible,  until  the  "kingdom 


Mount  Sinai  and  Mount  Sion.  275 

which  cannot  be  moved"  reached  its  complete  development 
and  perfect  glory. 

That  kingdom  "  we  have  received."  Let  our  hearts  be  filled 
with  thankfulness,  "  7C'kercby  7ve  may  serve  God  acceptably  with 
revcj'euce  and  godly  fear."  For  us  eternity  has  begun.  The 
order  of  things  to  which  we  belong  is  not  doomed  to  perish  or 
change.  Our  King  is  enthroned  for  ever.  The  laws  we  obey, 
the  promises  in  which  we  trust,  are  the  final  revelation  of  the 
will  and  love  of  God.  Here  our  souls  may  rest.  And  if  we 
reject  the  grace  of  God  and  judge  ourselves  unworthy  of  eternal 
life,  there  is  but  one  alternative, — "  our  God  is  a  consuming 
fireP  This  is  the  terrible  close  of  the  argument,  the  climax  of 
the  protracted  appeal.  For  every  Christian  man  there  is  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  its  eternal  glory,  or  "indignation  and 
wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish."  This  is  the  last  and  most 
terrible  form  in  which  the  question  is  put  which  stands  on  the 
first  page  of  the  Epistle  : — "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect 
so  great  salvation?" 


PRECEPTS. 

"  Let  brotherly  love  contimie,"  &c. — Hebrews  xiii,  1-19. 

The  great  argument  against  apostasy  is  now  complete ;  but 
the  writer,  before  concluding  his  Epistle,  exhorts  the  Hebrew 
Christians  to  cultivate  certain  virtues  and  graces  necessary  to 
the  perfection  of  their  personal  character  and  to  the  peace  and 
vigour  of  their  Church  life. 

He  exhorts  them  to  cherish  ^'■brotherly  love'"  (v.  i),  and  to 
manifest  it  by  showing  hospitality  to  '■'■strangers'"  (v.  2),  and 
sympathy  to  those  who  were  suffering  for  Christ  (v.  3). 

He  charges  them  to  maintain  the  purity  of  marriage,  warning 
them  that  "  tvhoremongcrs  and  adulterers  God  will  judge" 
(v.  4.) 

After  the  manner  of  other  New  Testament  \\T:iters,  he  passes 
at  once  from  sensual  sins  to  "  covetousness"  In  i  Cor.  v,  lo-ii, 
"  covetous  "  persons  and  "  extortioners  "  are  classed  by  St.  Paul 
with  "fornicators  and  idolaters."  In  i  Cor.  vi,  9-10,  it  is 
declared  that  "neither  fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor  adul- 
terers, nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers  of  themselves  with  mankind, 
nor  thieves,  nor  '■covetous^  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 
In  Ephesians  v,  3,  it  is  written,  "  But  fornication  and  all 
uncleanness,  or  covetousnecs  let  it  not  be  once  named  among 
you."  In  the  enumeration  of  the  sinful  passions  to  be  mortified, 
in  Col.  iii,  5,  "  Fornication,  uncleanness,  inordinate  affection, 
evil  concupiscence,  and  covetousncss,  which  is  idolatry,"  are 
placed  together. 

Nor,  as  I  have  intimated,  is  this  a  peculiarity  of  St.  Paul's. 


Precepts.  277 

St.  Peter,  in  his  first  Epistle  (chap,  ii,  14),  describes  the  wicked 
who  would  defile  the  Church,  and  provoke  the  fierce  vengeance 
of  God  as  "  Having  eyes  full  of  adultery,  and  a  heart  exercised 
with  covetous  practices."  Christ  Himself  said  (Mark  vii,  21-22) 
that  "  out  of  the  heart  of  man  proceed  adulteries,  fornications, 
murders,  thefts,  covetousncssP  It  is  not  our  habit  to  class  the 
excessive  love  of  money,  with  sins  of  sensuality  and  violence. 
The  profligate  is  the  object  of  scorn,  of  loathing  and  disgust; 
the  close-fisted,  hard-hearted  man,  whose  intellect  and  energy 
and  passions  are  all  concentrated  on  the  miserable  endeavour 
to  create  a  vast  fortune,  receives  the  respectful  courtesies  of 
good  men,  and  is  welcomed  into  every  house.  If  he  is  suc- 
cessful, he  may  command,  during  his  life,  public  honours ;  and 
if  he  distributes  his  wealth  with  tact  and  ostentation  when  lie 
can  no  longer  retain  it,  he  may  become  famous,  after  his  death, 
as  a  great  public  benefactor. 

In  primitive  times  "whoremongers  and  adulterers"  were 
left  to  the  judgment  of  God;  now,  happily,  they  are  branded 
with  the  burning  condemnation  of  society,  and  are  made  to  pay 
in  many  forms  the  heaviest  penalties  for  their  sins.  Perhaps, 
the  day  v/ill  come  when  the  vengeance  of  the  community  will 
also  flash  upon  the  "covetous;"  but  in  order  to  this,  the  public 
opinion  of  the  Church  must  be  brought  into  nearer  harmony 
with  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  and  a 
noble  superiority  to  the  common  passion  for  wealth  must  be 
regarded  as  an  indispensable  element  of  Christian  holiness. 

"  Be  content  with  such  things  as  ye  have."  Why  ?  "  For  He 
hath  said  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee"  To  Jacob 
(Gen.  xxviii,  15),  in  his  dream  of  the  ladder  with  the  ascending 
and  descending  angels — to  Joshua  and  the  Jewish  nation 
(Deut.  xxxi,  6-8)  through  the  lips  of  Moses — to  Solomon 
(i  Chron.  xxxviii,  20),  through  the  lr[)s  of  David, — God  had 
spoken  words  almost  identical  with  these ;  and  it  is  an  inter- 
esting illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  the  inspired  writers 
thought  themselves  justified  in  appropriating  Divine  promises, 
that  the  words  are  quoted  here,  as  if  they  were  the  property,  as 
indeed  they  are,  of  all  good  men.      For  a  Divine  promise,  no 


278  Precepts. 

matter  to  whom  it  may  have  been  originally  given,  is  a  revela- 
tion of  the  Divine  character;  and  in  its  substantial  meaning 
may  be  claimed  by  the  universal  Church.  Stripped  of  the 
accidents  which  it  derived  from  the  circumstances  of  those  to 
whom  it  was  first  spoken,  it  is  a  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
bounty,  or  mercy,  or  stedfastness,  and  is  of  universal  interest. 
It  was  to  Paul  personally  that  God  said,  "My  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee ;"  but  we  all  feel  that  we  may  lay  our  hand  upon  the 
words  and  plead  them  in  God's  presence,  as  though  they  had 
been  spoken  to  us ;  for  they  show  to  us,  as  they  showed  to 
Paul,  the  love  and  faithfulness  and  power  of  God,  and  so 
confirm  our  faith  in  Him. 

Then  follows  a  precept,  to  which  we  will  return  presently, 
requiring  a  remembrance  of  former  leaders  and  rulers  of  the 
Church,  who  to  the  end  of  their  days  had  continued  faithful  to 
Christ  (v.  7),  and  a  declaration  that  Christ,  whom  they  served, 
changes  not,  but  is  "///^  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever." 
(v.  8.) 

The  mention  of  the  unchangeableness  of  Christ,  forms  a 
natural  transition  to  an  exhortation  against  being  '■'■  carried  about 
with  divers  and  strange  doctrities  "  (v.  9).  What  the  particular 
doctrines  were,  of  which  the  ^vriter  was  thinking,  is  shown  in 
the  same  verse,  '■'■For  it  is  a  good  thing  that  the  heart' he  estab- 
lished with  grace''' — the  merciful  and  mighty  help  of  God's 
Spirit — '■'■not  with  meats,  which  profited  not  them  who  were 
occupied  therein."  I  imagine  that  under  the  influence  of  their 
fellow  countrymen,  who  continued  in  the  old  faith,  the  Jewish 
Christians  were  attaching  importance  to  fanciful  distinctions 
between  one  kind  of  food  and  another,  as  though  abstinence 
from  the  suspected  meats  would  keep  the  heart  pure,  and 
indulgence  in  them  defile  and  enfeeble. 

Without  apostatising  from  Christ,  it  was  possible  to  listen  to 
Jewish  ascetic  teaching ;  just  as  it  is  possible  without  forsaking 
Protestantism,  to  indulge  in  certain  Romish  practices  which, 
whether  they  are  wise  or  foolish  as  parts  of  that  great  religious 
institution  to  which  they  properly  belong,   are   childish  and 


Precepts.  279 

grotesque  when  observed  by  the  adherents  of  a  spiritual  system 
of  an  altogether  different  type  and  genius.  There  was  a  reason 
why  a  Jew  should  honour  the  sanctity  of  certain  times  and 
places  and  things ;  and  it  was  in  harmony  with  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  his  religion  that  he  should  even  speculate  on 
the  religiousness  of  abstaining  from  certain  kinds  of  food  which 
might  be  eaten  without  transgressing  any  definite  precept  of  his 
law ;  but  all  this  was  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  faith. 
And  the  pretty,  artistic  crosses  to  which  some  Protestants  attach 
a  sentimental  sanctity,  not  very  remote  from  the  reverence  of  a 
Catholic  for  his  crucifix,— the  taste  for  luscious  books  of  devo- 
tion,— and  the  playing  at  "  mortification "  in  secret,  are  not 
less  inconsistent  with  the  distinctive  elements  of  Protestantism. 
"  //  is  good  that  the  heart  be  established  with  graee,''  not  with  such 
things  as  these ;  if  the  mighty  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God, — 
regenerating,  sanctifying,  illuminating  the  soul,  uniting  you  with 
God  in  Jesus  Christ — cannot  make  you  strong  to  resist  tempta- 
tion, these  sentimental  follies  are  not  likely  to  help  you ;  harm- 
less as  they  seem,  they  may  divert  your  confidence  from  the 
only  foundation  on  which  it  ought  to  rest. 

The  protest  against  a  false  method  of  cultivating  religious 
perfection,  suggests  to  the  writer  a  very  characteristic  line  of 
thought.  He  has  just  condemned  the  folly  of  perpetuating 
imaginary  moral  distinctions  between  different  kinds  of  food ; 
he  proceeds  to  say,  "  We  have  an  altar,  however,  of  whieh  they 
have  no  right  to  eat  who  serve  the  faberiiaek."  Just  as  the  sin- 
offerings,  whose  blood  was  brought  into  the  Holy  Place  by  the 
High  Priest,  were  burned  without  the  camp,  as  being  too  sacred 
to  form,  like  other  sacrifices,  the  food  even  of  the  consecrated 
priesthood,  so  Christ,  who  "  suffered  without  the  gate,"  cannot  be 
the  life  and  strength  of  those  who  continue  faithful  to  Judaism. 
The  Jewish  priests  are  not  suffered  to  eat  the  most  sacred  of 
their  own  sacrifices,  nor  have  they  any  right  to  "  eat "  His  flesh 
of  whose  atoning  death  those  sacrifices  were  but  the  symbol. 

When  they  crucified  Christ  outside  the  walls  of  the  city  that 
the  sacred  ground  might  not  be  defiled  with  His  blood,  they 
were  unconsciously  adding  one  more  circumstance  of  external 
analogy  between  the  ancient  rites  and  the  history  of  Him  in 


28o  Precepts. 

whom  their  meaning  was  perfectly  fulfilled.  "  Let  ns  go  forth, 
therefore" — not  waiting  to  be  driven  from  Judaism  by  a  sentence 
of  excommunication,  but  leaving  the  nation  and  the  church 
from  which  Christ  was  expelled,  of  our  own  free-will, — "  unto 
Him  ;" — we  lose  communion  with  our  countrymen  only  to  enter 
into  closer  fellowship  with  our  Lord  ; — "  without  the  camp ;"  our 
fathers  dwelt  in  tents  when  they  left  Egypt, — and  the  venerable 
institutions  of  Moses  and  this  ancient  city,  with  its  glorious 
temple  and  mighty  walls,  are  not  more  lasting  than  the  shifting 
encampment  of  the  wilderness ;  they  are  destined  soon  to  pass 
away.  '■'■Here" — in  this  visible  world — ^^ have  we  no  continuhig 
city,  but  we  seek  one  to  come." 

Excluded  from  the  services  of  the  Temple,  "  By  Him  there- 
fore, let  us  offer  the  sacrifices  of  praise  to  God  cojitinually ,  that  is, 
the  fruit  of  our  lips,  giving  thanks  to  His  name." 

"But" — in  order  that  there  may  be  material  sacrifices  as 
well  as  acts  of  spiritual  worship — "  to  do  good  and  to  communi- 
cate" of  your  earthly  resources  to  those  that  are  in  need, 
'■''forget  not,  for  with  such  sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased." 

As  the  duty  of  remembering  their  fomier  church  rulers  had 
been  inculcated — verse  7 — the  duty  of  obedience  to  those  who 
were  still  living  is  inculcated — verse  17.  The  writer  then 
requests  the  prayers  of  the  Church  for  himself  and  his  friends 
(v.  18); — they  could  claim  the  prayers  of  their  brethren,  for 
they  were  persuaded  that  they  had  "  a  good  conscience — desiring 
in  all  things  to  act  ho7iourably  and  becomingly."  The  request  is 
urged  with  the  more  earnestness  that  the  wTiter  may  be 
'■'■restored"  to  his  brethren  '■^  the  sooner"  (v.  19). 

The  precepts  contained  in  this  passage  to  "obey"  the  living 
rulers  of  the  Church,  and  to  "remember"  those  who  were  dead, 
remind  us  that  the  Churches  of  primitive  times  were  organised 
communities,  having  their  appointed  officers,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  govern  as  well  as  to  teach,  and  whose  official  position  their 
brethren  were  required  to  honour.  Elsewhere  the  elders  of 
the  Church  are  called  its  "overseers"  (Acts  xx,  28),  and  its 
"presidents"  (i  Thess.  v,  12), — names  implying  the  authority 
of  their  office. 


Precepts.  28 1 

The  elders  that  '^  rule  well "  are  to  "  be  counted  7C'orf/iy  of 
double  honour,  especially  they  icho  labour  hi  word  and  doctrine''' 
(i  Tim.  V,  17).  He  who  made  some  "apostles"  made  others 
"pastors  and  teachers."  (Eph.  iv,  11.)  It  was  in  the  discharge 
of  their  apostolic  commission  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  "  ordained 
elders  in  every  church."     (Acts  xiv,  23.) 

Although  it  may  be  thought  that  we  Nonconformists,  in  our 
assertion  of  ecclesiastical  freedom,  and  in  our  protest  against 
every  form  of  priestly  assumption,  are  likely  to  forget  that  the 
strength  and  order  and  peace  of  Churches,  as  of  all  other 
societies  of  men,  can  only  be  maintained  and  protected  by 
respect  for  Law  and  Government, — I  am  not  disposed  to  admit 
that  our  people  resent  the  wise,  firm,  and  moderate  exercise  of 
the  authority  of  their  church  officers.  For  yourselves,  you  have 
shown,  during  more  than  a  hundred  years,  a  manly,  intelligent, 
and  unfaltering  loyalty  to  your  successive  pastors  and  elders. 
It  is  well,  however,  that  we  should  sometimes  consider  what  is 
the  nature  of  the  obedience  and  submission  which  the  rulers  of 
the  Church  have  a  right  to  claim. 

(i)  It  is  not  obedience  to  the  taill,  or  submission  to  the  judgment, 
of  one  man.  It  is  a  perilous  thing  for  a  church,  as  well  as  for  a 
nation,  to  be  under  the  authority  of  a  single  individual ;  and 
Christ  never  meant  that  it  should  be.  Even  in  those  rare 
cases,  in  which  the  sole  ruler  has  a  prudence  and  a  weight  of 
moral  influence,  which  enable  him  to  govern  with  uniform 
success, — firmly  and  yet  not  tyrannically, — the  church  suffers 
hanii.  Those  of  its  members  who  have  a  faculty  for  rule,  lose 
the  moral  and  religious  discipline  which  they  would  derive  from 
sharing  the  responsibilities  of  government ;  and  at  the  death  of 
its  solitary  chief  the  church  is  likely  to  be  thrown  into  confusion 
and  disorder,  because  there  are  none  left  whose  guidance  it  has 
been  accustomed  to  follow. 

In  every  one  of  the  apostolic  churches  there  seem  to  have 
been  several  bishops  and  several  deacons  :  among  ourselves, 
although  the  public  instruction  of  the  church  is  entrusted  too 
much  to  a  single  pastor,  we  preserve,  I  think,  the  spirit  of  the 
apostolic  constitution ;  we  have  substantially  the  same  officers, 


282  Precepts. 

though  they  are  called  by  other  names.  In  our  diaconate  we 
comprehend,  under  one  title,  functions  which  in  apostolic  times 
seem  to  have  been  separated.  Some  of  our  deacons  are,  in 
fact,  "  elders ; "  and  most  of  them  discharge  the  duties  of  both 
offices. 

During  the  last  year  or  two,  novelists  that  know  very  little  of 
the  true  life  and  habits  of  Congregational  churches,  and  a  few 
of  our  own  ministers  who  must  have  been  singularly  unfortunate 
in  their  ministerial  experience,  have  entertained  the  public,  and 
found  relief  for  their  own  dissatisfaction  and  disgust,  by  sketch- 
ing clever  caricatures  of  the  follies  and  imperfections  which 
cling  to  deacons  as  well  as  to  most  other  men,  and  which, 
perhaps,  might  be  found  in  other  forms,  even  in  the  ordained 
clergy  of  every  church  in  Christendom,  bond  or  free.  If  Mrs 
Oliphant  has  shown  that  it  is  possible  to  make  fun  of  dissenting 
deacons,  Mr  Anthony  Trollope  has  shown  that  there  are  weak 
points  in  the  people  who  live  in  the  cathedral  close,  and  that 
even  a  bishop  may  be  made  to  look  ludicrous.  There  is  no 
harm  in  being  amused  at  the  vulgarity  and  self-importance  of 
the  arch-deacon  of  "  Salem  Chapel ; "  but  if  we  are  asked  to 
accept  him  as  a  true  representative  of  the  whole  order,  we  repel 
the  insult.  We  could  tell  of  deacons  of  a  very  different  stamp ; 
of  shrewd  merchants  who,  though  under  the  pressure  of  large 
commercial  transactions,  devote  many  hours  every  week  to  the 
quiet  and  unostentatious  discharge  of  the  duties-  of  the 
diaconate ;  of  cultivated  professional  men,  whose  thought  and 
energy  are  zealously  and  modestly  devoted  to  the  service  of  the 
church ;  of  tradesmen  and  artizans,  whose  genial  sympathy  and 
sound  judgment  are  the  strength  and  pride  of  their  minister, 
and  whose  devout  and  brotherly  visits  to  the  sick  and  the 
sorrowful  never  fail  to  leave  the  sad  heart  lighter,  and  to  make 
the  monotony  of  the  sick-room  more  tolerable. 

It  is  true,  no  doubt,  that  there  are  many  of  our  deacons 
whose  English  is  not  faultlessly  accurate,  and  that  most  of 
them,  probably,  are  guilty  of  being  tradesmen,  which  is  a  dire 
offence  in  the  eyes  of  some  of  our  critics.  But,  though  it  seems 
incredible  to  some  people,  there  may  be  courtesy  and  intelli- 
gence, and  humihty,  and  self-sacrifice,  and  a  sense  of  honour, 


Precepts.  283 

where  there  is  an  utter  incapacity  to  escape  the  perils  of  the 
letter  H ;  a  clear  head  and  a  generous  heart  may  belong  to 
men  who  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow;  God 
sometimes  confers  on  tradesmen  intellectual  and  religious  gifts 
which  are  sometimes  unaccountably  withheld  from  "  scholars 
and  gentlemen ;"  and,  before  now,  fishermen  have  known  more 
about  Divine  truth  than  rabbis,  high  priests,  and  statesmen. 

The  association  of  lay  elders,  with  the  minister,  in  the 
government  of  a  church  is  an  element  of  strength  and  stability, 
not  of  weakness. 

(2)  77^6'  obedience  is  not  claimed  for  self-constituted  and  sclf- 
cJiosen  7'iders.  The  office  was  instituted  by  Christ ;  the  men 
who  fill  it  are  elected  by  the  church  itself".  You  ought  not  to 
appoint  to  official  authority  those  in  whose  judgment  and  spirit 
you  cannot  trust :  when  you  have  appointed  them,  they  haA-e  a 
plain  right  to  expect  from  you  that  consideration  without  which 
the  duties  of  their  office  cannot  be  discharged. 

(3)  The  obedience,  the  submission,  required  does  not  involve  any 
obligation  to  surrender  the  right  tvhich  belongs  to  every  Christian 
to  listeji  for  hi?fiself  to  Christ  and  to  the  apostles,  and  to  form  his 
own  convictions  on  the  contents  of  the  Christian  revelation. 

(4)  The  obedience  is  to  be  enforced  only  by  an  appeal  to  the 
conscience  and  judgment.  The  civil  power  never  ought  to  have 
attempted  to  sustain  the  authority  of  the  ministers  of  Christ ; 
and  the  time  is  coming  fast  when  it  will  be  seen  all  through 
Christendom  that  the  attempt  is  as  useless  as  it  is  wicked. 
Nor  are  the  ministers  of  Christ  themselves  invested  with  those 
aAvful  spiritual  prerogatives  which  have  brought  great  kings  and 
great  nations  to  the  feet  of  Christian  bishops. 

Nothing  can  be  more  generous  or  free  than  the  submission 
of  a  Christian  church,  after  the  apostolic  model,  to  its  rulers. 
"  They  watch  for  your  souls  as  they  that  must  give  account"  is  a 
motive  of  infinite  pathos  and  unsuspected  power.  It  is  felt  by 
many  who  would  be  provoked  to  resistance,  by  almost  any 
other  mode  of  urging  the  duty.  It  is  sustained  by  the  remem- 
brance of  religious  anxieties  and  temporal  sufferings  in  which 
the  counsels  and  intercessions  of  the  pastor  and  his  official 
colleagues,  brought  blessed  relief;    and  by  the  accumulated 


284  Precepts. 

influence  of  a  long  succession  of  Sabbaths,  in  which  the  heart 
has  been  strengthened  and  made  glad  by  the  public  services  of 
the  church. 

There  is  hardly  any  relation  on  earth  in  which  there  are 
more  opportunities  for  the  display  of  generous  and  chivalrous 
qualities,  than  in  the  relation  between  the  officers  of  a  Non- 
conformist church  and  the  people;  and  the  mutual  trustfulness, 
the  willing  co-operation,  the  surrender  of  personal  preferences, 
the  government  of  temper,  the  mutual  tolerance  of  infirmities, 
and  the  cordial  recognition  of  intellectual  power  and  moral 
excellence  wherever  they  exist,  are  too  familiar  to  us,  in  the 
actual  life  of  our  churches,  to  awaken  admiration  or  even 
attract  attention. 

It  is  not  easy  to  define  the  limits  of  the  submission  which 
church  members  owe  to  their  officers.  It  is  not  easy  even  to 
illustrate  its  nature  at  all  adequately ;  but  there  are  some  par- 
ticulars which  are  sufficiently  obvious. 

(i)  It  is  plain,  for  instance,  that  the  public  teaching  of  the 
pastor  ought  to  be  listened  to  and  spoken  of  with  respect ;  and 
that  there  should  be  a  careful  abstinence  from  whatever  would 
diminish  its  moral  influence.  On  this  point  the  ministers  of 
our  larger  churches  have  generally  no  reason  to  complain ;  they 
have  personal  qualities  and  powers  which  usually  secure  all  the 
consideration  they  can  legitimately  claim.  But  where  the 
minister  has  not  much  culture  and  not  much  strength,  churches 
are  sometimes  at  fault.  They  forget  that  there  is  a  respect  due 
to  him  as  their  appointed  teacher, — as  one  who,  with  whatever 
inadequate  resources,  occupies  by  their  own  consent  an  ofiice 
which  Christ  instituted, — and  that  the  authority  of  a  minister 
rests,  mainly,  not  on  his  natural  or  acquired  gifts,  but  on  the 
very  relationship  he  sustains  to  his  people. 

(2)  Sometimes,  too,  there  is  an  indisposition  to  receive  the 
honest  and  kindly  remonstrances  of  church  rulers  in  private, 
on  questionable  modes  of  doing  business,  on  ostentatious 
living,  on  sins  of  temper,  or  of  speech,  or  refigious  carelessness, 
and  inconsistencies.  The  interference  is  resented  as  though  it 
were  unwarranted ;  when,  in  fact,  all  who  enter  a  church, 
implicitly  declare  their  readiness  to  receive  with  deference  the 


Precepts.  285 

warnings  and  advice  of  those  whom  the  church  appoints  to 
"  watch  "  for  the  souls  of  its  members. 

(3)  There  should  also  be  a  willingness  to  act  with  the  church 
cordially  and  earnestly  in  whatever  plans  for  evangelistic 
usefulness  or  the  culture  of  the  religious  life,  may  be  recom- 
mended by  its  official  representatives.  If  the  pastor  and  elders 
request  a  man  to  engage  in  any  particular  Christian  work, 
there  should  be  very  strong  reasons  to  justify  refusal ;  and  if, 
in  their  judgment,  another  man  is  not  qualified  for  work  in 
which  he  is  already  engaged,  the  cases  are  very  rare  in  which  he 
should  consider  himself  at  liberty  to  continue  in  it. 

In  ordinary  times,  however,  the  restraints  of  government  will 
be  hardly  felt ;  it  is  when  the  church  is  exposed  to  peril,  that 
confidence  in  its  rulers  and  loyalty  to  their  authority,  are  most 
necessary. 

While  honouring  the  living  we  are  called  upon  to  remember 
the  dead  (v.  7). 

Among  the  former  leaders  of  the  churches  of  Palestine,  were 
men  who  had  suffered  grievous  persecution  and  death  itself  in 
the  service  of  Christ ;  and  every  church  that  has  had  a  history 
at  all,  can  look  back  upon  examples  of  lofty  saintliness  among 
its  pastors  and  elders.  Their  memory  is  a  priceless  inheritance 
— rebuking  degeneracy,  elevating  the  ideal  of  Christian  holiness, 
encouraging  the  endeavour  to  please  God  perfectly.  Their 
"patient  continuance  in  well  doing,"  their  endurance  to  the 
end,  their  testimony  when  the  shadows  of  death  were  upon 
them  to  the  fidelity  of  Christ  and  the  sufficiency  of  His  grace, 
make  the  heart  ashamed  of  its  distrust  in  God,  its  weariness  in 
religious  work. 

The  honour  paid  to  their  memory  will  stimulate  their  suc- 
cessors to  imitate  their  excellence,  and  will  quicken  and  cherish 
in  many  hearts,  a  yearning  for  the  labours  and  responsibilities 
in  which  their  devoutness  and  zeal  were  illustrated ;  and  thus 
the  holy  succession  will  be  perpetuated. 


CONCLUSION. 

"Now  the  God  of  peace,"  &c. — Hebrews  xiii,  20-24. 

The  warnings,  entreaties,  arguments,  and  precepts  of  this 
Epistle,  are  solemnly  and  devoutly  closed,  by  the  invocation  of 
the  Divine  blessing  on  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed.  It  is 
when  we  have  striven  most  earnestly  to  warn  men  against 
dangerous  error  or  grievous  sin,  that  we  feel  most  deeply  that 
our  persuasions  and  appeals  will  be  ineffective  unless  our 
brethren  are  taught,  and  kept,  and  strengthened  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  but  the  depth  of  our  own  solicitude  for  their  salvation 
inspires  us  with  a  firm  faith  that  God  will  not  be  indifferent  to 
it.  Hence,  we  never  pray  for  others  so  fervently  or  so  hope- 
fully as  when  we  have  done  our  best  to  instruct  and  to  impress 
them ;  unless  indeed  we  see  that  they  have  already  resisted  and 
vanquished  ever)-  truth  and  every  motive  we  have  urged  upon 
them ;  in  that  case,  though  our  failure  may  drive  us  to  cry  to 
God  with  more  impassioned  earnestness,  our  cry  is  too  com- 
monly the  cry  of  despair. 

But  there  is  nothing  like  despair  in  the  noble  benediction  we 
have  to  consider  this  morning;  and,  remembering  the  moral 
weakness  of  the  Jewish  believers  against  which  the  wTiter  has 
been  struggling  all  through  the  Epistle,  and  the  thickening 
perils  by  which  they  were  threatened,  there  is  something  won- 
derful in  the  breadth  and  fulness  of  his  prayer  for  them.  Their 
own  fainting  courage  must  have  been  re-animated  when  they 
discovered  that  one,  who  knew  their  sin  so  thoroughly,  and  had 
warned  them  so  sternly,  could  pray  that  God  would  make  them 
^'pe7-fect  in  rdcry  good  work  to  do  His  wiH."  Though  they  had 
almost  drifted  into  apostasy,  the  highest  hoHness  was  still  within 
their  reach. 


Conclusion.  287 

God  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  God  of  peace.'''  No  description 
could  be  more  welcome.  The  Jewish  Church  was  surrounded 
by  an  excited  and  disorganized  nation.  Wild  hopes  and  fears 
were  disturbing  every  heart.  No  one  could  tell  how  soon  the 
hatred  of  the  people  for  their  Roman  rulers  would  burst  into 
revolt,  and  cover  the  land  with  flames  and  blood.  Those  who 
yielded  to  the  current  of  sedition  knew  that  they  were  com- 
mitted to  desperate  courses,  and  that  years  of  terror  and  tumult 
v.ere  before  them ;  for  those  who  resisted,  there  would  be  the 
hatred,  contempt,  and  suspicion  which  always  come  upon  men 
who,  in  times  of  revolution,  are  supposed  to  be  faithless  to  the 
cause  of  their  country.  There  was  no  peace  for  any  soul  in 
that  unhappy  nation  and  age,  except  the  peace  which  the  world 
cannot  give.  The  "  time  of  trouble  "  had  come ;  but  the  God 
of  the  ancient  saints  was  theirs ;  and  like  their  great  ancestor 
they  might  exclaim,  "Oh  how  great  is  Thy  goodness  Vv-hich 
Thou  hast  laid  up  for  them  that  fear  Thee ;  Thou  shalt  hide 
them  in  the  secret  of  Thy  presence  from  the  pride  of  man  \ 
Thou  shalt  keep  them  secretly  from  the  pride  of  tongues." 
God  was  still  the  "  God  of  peace." 

Nor  was  it  merely  tranquillity  in  the  midst  of  outward  agita- 
tion that  God  might  be  expected  to  confer.  The  vacillating 
loyalty  of  the  Jewish  Christians  to  the  Lord  Jesus  had  brought 
interior  trouble.  They  had  been  living,  no  doubt,  a  restless 
and  unhappy  life.  Dissatisfaction  and  self-reproach  are  always 
the  penalty  of  yielding  to  temptation  :  in  God  it  was  still 
possible  for  them  to  find  ^' peace.'" 

There  was  another  reason,  perhaps,  why  God  is  thus 
described.  The  threatenings  which  occupy  so  large  a  space 
in  this  Epistle  Avere  necessary  to  startle  and  alarm,  and  to  make 
the  heart  afraid  to  sin ;  but  the  duties  and  difficulties  of  God's 
service  cannot  be  met,  unless  the  love  of  God  and  trust  in  His 
mercy  are  blended  with  the  fear  of  His  anger.  I  may  shrink 
from  daring  transgressions,  because  God  is  a  "consuming  fire;" 
but  this  awful  truth  will  never  enable  me  to  obey  Him  lovingly 
and  cheerfully.  The  assurance  that  there  is  no  enmity  in  God 
towards  me  is  indispensable,  not  only  to  my  happiness,  but  to 


288  Conclusion. 

the  success  of  my  endeavours  to  please  Him.  It  is  when  the 
storm  has  gone  by  and  the  happy  sunHght  of  the  Divine  love 
rests  on  the  soul,  that  holy  affections  blossom  into  beauty  and 
ripen  into  fruit.  -And  so,  Paul,  when  writing  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  says,  "  The  very  God  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholty,"  and 
the  writer  of  this  Epistle,  "  The  God  of  peace  make  you  perfect." 

The  interpretation  of  the  last  clause  of  v.  20  is  involved  in 
considerable  difficulty.  Is  it  meant  that  God  "raised''''  Christ 
''^  from  the  dead''''  because  His  resurrection  was  secured  by  "the 
ez'erlastmg covenant"  which  His  death  had  sealed  and  consum- 
mated ? — or,  that  when  Christ  rose,  "  the  blood  of  the  covena?it " 
was  upon  Him,  as  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  was  on  the  hands 
of  the  High  Priest  when  he  entered  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  ? — 
or,  that  Christ's  voluntary  submission  to  cruel  sufferings  and  a 
shameful  death  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  distinguishes  Him 
frorn  all  other  pastors  and  teachers,  and  that  it  is  by  virtue 
of  this,  that  He  is  the  "  Great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep  V  There 
are  many  reasons  which  incline  me  to  the  last  interpretation. 
Reference  has  been  made  to  former  church  rulers,  who  were 
to  be  remembered  with  affectionate  veneration,  and  whose 
fidelity  to  Christ  was  to  be  imitated ;  and  to  living  church 
rulers  who  were  to  be  obeyed,  "for  they  watch  for  your  souls;" 
and  now,  the  A\Titer  turns  to  "that  great  Shepherd" — great 
because  He  laid  down  His  life  for  the  sheep,  and  because  Plis 
blood  has  sealed  the  everlasting  covenant  between  God  and 
man. 

Having  raised  from  the  dead  Him  who  "  hath  purchased  " 
the  church  "  with  His  own  blood,"  God  will  listen  to  us,  when 
we  pray  that  the  Church  may  be  perfected  in  every  good  work. 

"  A  glorious  prayer  it  is,"  writes  John  Owen,  "  including  the 
whole  mystery  of  Divine  grace  in  its  original,  and  the  way  of 
its  communication  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  prays  that  the  fruit 
and  benefit  of  all  that  he  had  before  instructed  them  in,  might 
be  appHed  to  them.  For  the  substance  of  the  whole  doctrinal 
part  of  the  Epistle  is  included  in  it."  * 

It  would,  indeed,  be  easy  to  develope,  from  this  passage,  all 
*  Owen  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  in  loc. 


Conclusion.  289 

the  characteristic  truths  and  facts  of  the  Christian  system, — the 
mercy  of  God,  the  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
sanctification  and  final  glory  of  all  who  believe  in  Him.  But 
the  specific  blessings  sought  in  the  prayer  deserve  our  most 
serious  and  earnest  consideration. 


The  writer  prays  that  God  would  ^^ make"  the  Jewish 
Christians  '■^perfect  in  ei>ery  good  ivork  to  do  His  will."  The 
word  translated  ^^ perfect"  in  this  and  some  other  places  in  the 
New  Testament,  is  sometimes,  and,  perhaps,  most  accurately, 
used  to  denote  the  repairing  and  putting  in  order  of  what  has 
been  injured  or  broken, — the  mending  of  nets,  for  instance,  and 
the  re-setting  of  a  fractured  limb.  It  occurs  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  where  it  is  said,  "  If  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a 
fault  ye  who  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness,  considering  thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempted." 

From  this  Epistle  we  have  seen  reason  to  infer,  that  many 
of  the  Jewish  Christians  had  sunk  into  a  condition  in  which  it 
was  impossible  for  them,  without  passing  through  a  great  change, 
to  do  the  will  of  God.  Their  thoughts  about  their  ancient  faith 
and  about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  needed  re-adjustment.  Human 
passions  and  spiritual  affections  were  not  rightly  balanced. 
Their  loyalty  to  Christ  was  overborne  by  their  natural  sympathy 
with  the  patriotic  enthusiasm  of  their  countrymen,  and  by  their 
natural  veneration  for  the  institutions  and  traditions  of  their 
fathers.  Their  dread  of  present  shame  and  suffering  had  greater 
influence  than  their  faith  in  the  Divine  promises.  The  merciful 
and  mighty  interference  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  needed  to 
restore  order  and  harmony,  to  suppress  and  subdue  the  passions 
which  had  usurped  undue  power,  and  to  strengthen  principles 
and  convictions  which  had  become  too  feeble. 

Just  as  a  machine  which  has  got  out  of  order  must  be  set 
right,  before  it  can  work  easily  and  well ;  just  as  a  ship  must  be 
equipped  and  fitted  up,  before  it  can  safely  commence  its 
voyage ;  so  it  was  necessary  that  these  Jewish  Christians  should 
have  their  whole  nature  re-organized  before  their  Christian  life 

u 


290  Conclusion. 

could  be  vigorous  or  happy.  The  prayer  is,  that  the  re-organi- 
zation should  be  such  as  would  make  them  ready  for  "  every 
good  work" — ^for  the  courageous  confession  of  Christ,  for  the 
patient  endurance  of  suffering,  for  worship,  for  all  moral 
excellence,  for  brotherly  love,  for  submission  to  their  church 
rulers,  for  whatever  duty  the  law  of  Christ,  and  the  perilous 
times  in  which  they  lived,  might  impose  on  them. 

This  is  a  prayer  which  we  should  offer  for  ourselves,  and 
offer  with  confidence  in  God's  willingness  to  listen  to  us.  If 
we  are  to  be  made  ready,  or  perfectly  equipped,  for  a  holy  Hfe, 
we  must  receive  from  God  a  large  and  rich  variety  of  blessings. 
Our  habits  of  thought,  perhaps,  must  be  greatly  modified. 
There  is  no  necessity  that  we  should  receive  clearer  light  on 
the  transitory  character  of  those  ritualistic  institutions  which 
exerted  a  fatal  power  over  the  hearts  of  the  Jewish  Christians ; 
but  we  may  need  clearer  light  on  the  transitory  character  of  all 
earthly  things,  a  brighter  vision  of  the  eternal  world,  a  more 
vivid  apprehension  of  the  reality  of  the  Divine  anger  and  the 
Divine  approbation,  of  the  rapid  approach  of  death  and  judg- 
ment, of  the  glory  and  terror  which  lie  beyond. 

It  may  not  be  necessary  that  love  for  our  country  should  be 
subordinated  to  our  love  of  Christ ;  but  there  may  be  great  need 
that  the  love  of  money,  of  pleasure,  of  ease,  should  be  diminished. 
It  may  be  necessary  that  our  feeling  about  the  relative  importance 
of  different  pursuits  should  be  modified ;  that  the  distribution 
of  our  time  should  be  changed ;  that  our  whole  life  should  be 
reconstructed. 

We  may  be  ready  for  some  good  works ;  but  what  is  required 
is  that  we  should  be  ready  for  ^''  every  good  work;"  for  personal 
service  as  well  as  generous  giving,  for  generous  giving  as  well 
as  personal  service ;  for  devout  worship  as  well  as  zealous 
activity,  for  zealous  activity  as  well  as  devout  worship;  for 
spiritual  earnestness  as  well  as  common  human  virtues,  for 
common  human  virtues  as  well  as  spiritual  earnestness. 

You  would  not  say  that  a  child,  deaf  or  dumb,  was 
"perfected"  for  all  the  activities  and  exigencies  of  human  life, 
whatever  might  be  the  clearness  of  its  eyesight ;  or  that  its 
physical  strength  rendered  intellectual  imbecility  no  practical 


Conclusion.  291 

evil.  Every  limb  must  be  vigorous,  every  organ  of  sense  sound, 
every  intellectual  faculty  active,  or  the  child  is  more  or  less 
unprepared  for  the  world  into  which  it  has  come,  and  the  life  it 
has  to  live.  And  we  ought  to  pray  that  God  would  ^'■perfect'' 
us  "/^r  every  good  work." 


II. 

The  prayer  is  completed  by  the  clause  "  working  in  you  that 
which  is  well  pleasing  in-  His  sight."  This  looks  as  much  like 
Paul's  handwriting  as  any  phrase  in  the  Epistle.  Not  only  does 
the  thought  belong  to  that  class  of  truths  on  which  it  was  his 
habit  to  insist  most  strongly,  but  the  manner  is  exactly  his. 
The  writer  catches  at  the  word  he  has  just  used,  *'/<?  </^  His 
will,"  and  adds,  "  doing  in  yon  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in 
His  sight."  Your  work,  after  all,  is  to  be  God's  work.  He 
must  re-fit  and  re-organise  your  whole  life,  and  then  must  con- 
tinue to  act  in  you  and  through  you  to  the  end  of  your  days. 
This  is  very  like,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation — for  it  is  God 
whoworketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure  ;" 
very  like,  "  It  is  not  I  that  live,  but  Christ  that  liveth  in  me  ;" 
very  like,  "  Ye  are  God's  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  good  works." 

Nor  is  there  any  real  contradiction  between  those  awful 
warnings  against  the  consequences  of  apostasy  from  Christ 
which  make  this  Epistle  the  most  terrible,  perhaps,  of  all  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  impassioned,  trium- 
phant, exulting  testimonies  to  the  steadfastness  of  the  Divine 
love  and  the  power  of  the  Divine  grace,  which  are  so  pro- 
minent in  St.  Paul's  writings.  All  these  testimonies  rest  on  the 
supposition  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Faith  in  God  continues, 
not  that  it  must ;  all  these  warnings,  on  the  supposition  that  it 
has  ceased.  When  St.  Paul  exclaims,  "  Who  shall  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  Christ  ?"  he  defies  tribulation  to  do  it,  and 
distress,  and  persecution,  and  famine,  and  nakedness,  and  peril, 
and  sword  ;  but  he  does  not  say  that  a  man  may  not  separate 
himself,  by  wilful  and  persevering  apostasy.  While  I  continue 
to  rely  on  the  mercy  of  Christ  and  endeavour  to  keep  His 


292  Conclusion. 

commandments,  every  gracious  promise  the  lips  of  God  have 
spoken,  is  mine  ;  every  act  of  love  His  hands  have  wrought 
illustrates  the  greatness  of  the  power  and  the  wealth  of  the 
goodness  on  which  I  may  rely.  But  if  I  am  hesitating  whether 
to  remain  a  Christian  or  not,  there  is  not  a  single  sentence  in 
Holy  Scripture  that  tells  me  I  have  lost  the  power  of  choice, 
and  am  no  longer  able  to  resist  the  authority  and  reject  the 
mercy  of  Christ.  If  I  have  already  apostatised,  there  is  not  a 
solitary  syllable  which  justifies  the  hope  that  because  I  once 
repented  of  my  sin  and  once  believed  the  Gospel,  I  may 
dismiss  all  fear  of  the  judgment-seat  and  of  eternal  death. 
Paul  kept  his  body  under  lest  he  should  prove  "a  castaway." 
Peter  declares  that  "  the  end"  of  the  apostate  "  is  worse  than 
the  beginning  ;"  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  asks,  "  How  shall  jve 
escape — we  Christian  men — if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?" 

But  with  those  who  are  in  Christ  there  is  an  "  everlasting 
covenant " — a  covenant  which  God  will  never  desire  to  break. 

His  love  is  changeless.  His  power  fainteth  not,  wearieth 
not,  through  all  the  ages  of  His  eternal  existence.  Had  He 
saved  us  reluctantly,  we  might  fear  that  He  would  repent.  Had 
He  yielded  to  the  impulses  of  His  mercy  without  vindicating 
the  honour  of  His  moral  government,  we  might  fear  lest  in  some 
appalling  crisis  of  the  history  of  the  moral  universe  He  might 
feel  constrained  to  strip  us  of  our  splendours  and  di:ive  us  from 
our  bliss.  But  it  was  His  eternal  purpose  that  we  should 
*'  have  redemption  through  the  blood  of  Christ,"  and  that  pur- 
pose shall  never  be  revoked.  In  saving  the  human  race.  He 
has  revealed  the  riches  of  His  wisdom,  as  well  as  the  riches  of 
His  grace ;  His  infinite  pity  for  His  sinful  and  suffering  crea- 
tures, and  His  steadfast  fidelity  to  the  Moral  Law.  Aiid  "  I 
am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  prin- 
cipalities, nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come, 
nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord." 

Amen  and  Amen, 


NOTES. 


The  Argument  of  the  Epistle.  "  The  comparison  between 
evangelical  Christianity  and  legal  Judaism  turns  on  two 
principal  points — the  relative  dignity  of  the  Persons  who 
represent  the  tzvo  dispensations  as  Mediators  between  God 
and  the  tmrld,  and  the  tiature  of  the  results  or  benefits 
secured  by  the  one  and  by  the  other y  Reuss  :  Histoire  de 
la  Tlieologie  Chr'eiienne. — Tom.  II,  270. 


NOTES. 

Cap.  I. 
V.   I.     Sundry  times — divers  maimers :    pp.    13-14. 

By  the  prophets :  the  form  of  expression  indicates  that  the 
Divine  Spirit  was  "///  the  prophets  ;"  they  were  more  than  mere 
messengers.  The  reference  is  to  all  who  had  received  Divine 
revelations  to  communicate  to  the  Jewish  people — Moses 
among  the  rest.  It  was  not  the  principal  function  of  prophets 
to  predict  future  events,  but  to  make  known  the  thought  and 
Avill  of  God  to  men.  In  former  times  God  revealed  Himself 
through  the  teaching  of  prophets ;  now  "  in  these  last  days  " 
He  has  revealed  Himself  through  the  Son. 

2.  In  these  last  days ;  rather  "at  the  end  of  these  days." 
The  writer  elsewhere  (ix,  26,)  speaks  of  Christ  as  having  been 
manifested  at  the  end  of  the  world  "  to  put  away  sin."  The 
earthly  life  of  Christ  closed  one  great  period  in  the  history  of 
the  human  race,  and  introduced  another.  When  He  ascended 
into  heaven  and  was  made  "  Prince  and  Saviour,"  the  kingdom 
of  God  was  established  on  earth — that  kingdom  for  \yhich 
devout  men  had  been  so  long  waiting,  and  which  is,  therefore, 
sometimes  described  as  "  the  world  to  come."  But  there  were 
vast  numbers  of  men  who  did  not  enter  into  that  kingdom,  but 
remained  in  "that  present  world  with  all  its  evil,"  from  which 
Christ  came  to  deliver  them ;  so  that  to  the  Christian  of 
Apostolic  times  it  seemed  that  he  was  living  in  two  conflicting 
"ages;"  the  old  "world"  still  lingered  on  undestroyed  and  its 
"  last  days "  were  not  over ;  and  yet  that  which  had  been 
spoken  of  as  "the  world  to  come"  had  actually  come,  and 
Christian  men  had  risen  with  Christ  and  entered  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

hath — spoken:  The  completeness  of  the  revelation  made 
by  Christ  is  more  emphatically  marked  by  retaining  the  tense 
which  the  writer  uses  : — "  God  having  spoken  ....  in  times 
past  to  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  at  the  end  of  these  days 
spake  to  us  by  [His]  Son." 


296  Notes. 

\His\  Son.  There  is  neither  article  nor  pronoun  before 
"  Son."  The  absence  of  both,  when  taken  with  the  emphatic 
position  of  the  word,  shows  that  the  writer  was  thinking  not  so 
much  of  a  person  who  stood  in  a  certain  relationship  to  God 
as  of  the  relationship  itself.  The  thought  would  be  fairly- 
represented  if  we  translated  "  God  spake  to  us  by  One  who 
sustains  to  Him  the  relationship  of  Son." 

hath  appointed  suggests  that  the  appointment  was  made  at  a 
definite  time,  and  perhaps  after  Christ's  earthly  history  was 
over.  The  true  rendering  is  "  appointed "  referring  to  an 
eternal  determination. 

heir  of  all  things — pp.  10-17 

jnade  the  worlds — p.  15. 

3.  See  a  remarkable  description  of  wisdom,  contained  in 
Wisdom  of  Solomon,  cap.  vii,  25,  26.     "  She  is  the  breath  of 

the  power  of  God,  and  a  pure  influence  flowing  from  the  glory 
of  the  Almighty  .....  the  brightness  of  the  everlasting  light, 
the  unspotted  mirror  of  the  power  of  God,  and  the  image  of 
His  goodness." 

Brightness  of  His  glory — p.  14. 

Express  image  of  His  person :  Christ  is  the  visible  form  of 
the  very  Being  of  God. 

by  Himself :  omit. 

vv.  4 — 14.  On  the  general  interpretation  of  these  verses 
and  the  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament,  see  pp.  25-29. 

4.  being  made :  having  become. 
by  inheritance :  p.  26. 

5.  77iis  day  have  I  begotten  thee:  The  /  is  emphatic. 

6.  And  again,  when  He  bringeth,  etc.  Ebrard's  translation 
seems  best  to  meet  the  grammatical  difficulties  of  this  verse, 
without  involving  the  grave  difficulties  of  another  kind  suggested 
by  the  more  obvious  rendering  ("  When  He  again  hath  intro- 
duced the  first-begotten,  &c.")  Ebrard,  translating  freely,  reads, 
"  But  again  He  says  of  the  time  when  He  shall  introduce  the 
first-begotten  into  the  sphere  of  the  earth." 

6.  Who  maketh  His  angels:  etc.  There  is  very  much  to 
be  said  for  reading  :   "  Who  maketh  His  angels   winds,  and 


Notes.  297 

His  ministers  a  flame  of  fire,"  i.e.,  He  causes  His  messengers  to 
act  in  or  by  means  of  the  winds,  and  commissions  them  to 
assume  the  agency  or  form  of  flames  for  His  purposes.  'I'hat 
the  angels  are  commissioned  to  use  the  forces  of  nature  in 
God's  service  suggests  how  inferior  they  are  to  the  Son,  of 
whom  it  is  said  (v.  10.)  that  He  created  all  things.  The  i.xx 
which  is  quoted  here  is  absolutely  in  favour  of  this  rendering. 
The  Hebrew  may  be  fairly  pleaded — though  not  with  absolute 
confidence — for  the  view  taken  on  pp.  27-2S,  which  is  also 
supported  by  the  context  of  the  passage  as  it  stands  in  Ps.  civ. 

10.  hast  /(7/^/ .-—didst  lay.  In  the  Authorized  A^'ersion  the 
Greek  aorist  is  very  frequently  represented  by  the  English  per- 
fect. In  some  passages  the  idiom  of  our  language  makes  this 
almost  necessary  ;  in  very  many  it  makes  no  difference  in  the 
sense ;  only  where  the  more  exact  translation  seems  to  bring  out 
the  author's  meaning  more  accurately  or  more  sharply,  will 
attention  be  called  to  the  true  tense. 

14.     wJio  shall  inherit:  who  are  about  to  inherit. 


Cap.  II. 

1.  let  ihein  slip  :  or,  be  floated  past  them. 

2.  rvas  steadfast:  became  binding — as  spoken  by  such 
authoritative  Divine  messengers. 

3.  if  we  neglect :  having  neglected  :  />.,  How  shall  we  escape 
Ciod's  judgment  at  last  if  we  have  neglected,  &c. 

was  cimfirmed:  recalls  the  adjecti\-e,  translated  "  steadfast," 
v.  2,  and  suggests  a  ratification  of  the  gospel  somewhat 
corresponding  to  that  there  predicated  of  the  law. 

4.  God  also  bearing  [them]  witness  : — i.e.  bearing  witness  to 
the  great  salvation.  God  Himself  '•  by  signs  and  wonders,  (S:c.," 
bore  witness  with  those  who  "  heard." 

gifis  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  distributions  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  Holy  Ghost  was  given  or  distributed  in  various  measures 
and  for  various  ends  to  those  who  received  the  great  salvation. 

5.  For  unto  the  angels,  etc.  :  "  For  not  unto  angels  did  He 
put  in  subjection,  &c.,"  i,e.,  in  His  original  idea  and  purpose. 

the  world  to  come :  p.  46. 

X 


298  Notes. 

6.  One  in  a  certain  place  testified,  etc  :  suggesting  that  the 
writer  quoted  from  the  Old  Testament  memoriter. 

7.  TJwu  madest  him,  etc.  :  p.  48, 

8.  We  see  not  yet,  etc.  :  p.  51. 

g.  But  we  see  yesus,  etc.  Alford  translates  "  But  Him  that 
is  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  even  Jesus,  we  behold 
on  account  of  His  suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and 
honour,  in  order  that  He,  by  the  grace  of  God,  should  taste 
death  for  every  man:" — explaining  the  thought  thus,  "  On  the 
triumphant  issue  of  His  sufferings  their  efficacy  depends." 

10.  to  make  ....  perfect :  pp.  58  and  62. 

11.  all  of  one.     p.  61. 

12.  It  is  hard  to  see  that  the  words  quoted  in  this  verse 
and  the  next  had  any  prophetic  reference  :  the  writer  uses  them 
freely,  as  we  use  Shakespeare  and  Milton.  Perhaps  he  shrank 
from  putting  his  own  words  into  the  mouth  of  Christ,  and  yet 
felt  that  his  argument  would  gain  great  force  by  being  thrown 
into  this  dramatic  form. 

14.     through  death,  etc.     p.  72. 

16.  For  verily  He  took  not  on  Him  :  "  For  verily  it  is  not 
angels  that  He  helpeth." 

Cap.  in. 

1.  Holy  brethren,  etc.     p.  74. 

of  our  profession  :  Him  whom  we  Christians  confess  to  be  the 
great  Apostle  of  God  and  our  High  Priest,     p.  75. 

2.  appointed.  I  see  no  adequate  reason  for  reading  "made" 
or  "  created  :"  the  introduction  of  the  idea  of  creation  violates 
the  consistency  of  the  metaphor.  That  "appointed"  is  a  legiti- 
mate rendering  of  the  word  I  hold  to  be  shown  by  Mark  iii,  13. 

2.  His  house:  i.e.,  "  6^^?^'^  household."     p.  75. 

3.  man  is  supplied  by  the  translators. 

builded :  "established"  or  "founded."     So  in  v.  4. 

5.    for  testimony,  etc. :  p.  76. 


Notes.  299 

6.  rejoicing  of  the  hope :  that  object  of  hope  in  which  we 
boast  or  glory. 

tmto  the  end :  omit. 

9.  when  your  fatJurs  :  "  where  your  fathers." 

saw  my  7uorks :  meaning  perhaps,  God's  penal  judgments. 

10.  that  generation  :  '' this  generation." 

14.  For  tue  arc  made  partakers :  "for  we  have  become 
partakers." 

16.  For  some,  lohen  they  had  heard,  etc.:  "For  who — 
having  heard — perished?  Was  it  not  all  that  came  out  of 
Egypt  by  the  help  of  Moses  ?"  The  whole  nation  rebelled 
against  God  :  an  awful  warning. 

1 8.     belia'cd  not :  "  obeyed  not." 

Cap.  IV. 

1.  p.  81. 

2.  For  unto  us  ivas  the  gospel  preached,  etc.  :  "  For  unto  us 
have  good  tidings  been  announced,  etc." 

the  luord preached :  "  the  word  heard." 

7iot  being  mixed  with  faith:  this  is  a  clause  of  extraordinary 
difficulty.  The  Authorized  Version  represents  a  reading  which 
is  not  supported  by  any  adequate  authority.  The  best  reading 
seems  to  require  a  translation  of  this  kind  :  "  the  word  .... 
did  not  profit  them,  as  they  were  not  mingled  by  faith  with 
those  who  heard  it."  The  idea  seems  to  be  that  the  word  of 
God  is  not  really  heard  by  those  who  do  not  receive  it  with 
faith,  and  that  the  people  in  the  wilderness  were  not  one  with 
those  whose  hearts  were  really  open  to  the  Divine  promises. 

3.  enter  into  rest :  "  are  entering  into  the  rest,"  i.e.,  the  rest 
already  spoken  of. 

as  He  said :  "  as  He  hath  said." 

a/though  the  works,  etc.     p,  82. 

4.  For  He  spake :  "  For  He  hath  spoken." 

6.  those  to  tvhom  it  was  first  preached :  "  those  to  whom  the 
good  tidings  were  formerly  announced." 

X   2 


300  Notes. 

7.  On  the  quotation  and  argument  see  p.  82. 

af/cr  so  lojig  a  time :  the  time  between  Joshua  and  David. 

8.  ycsus:  "Joshua." 

9.  T/uTc  rcmaindh  therefore:  "There  still  remains  therefore 
a  sabbath-keeping  for  the  people  of  ( jod." 

10.  the  rest :  i.e.,  God's  rest. 

as  God  did  from  His :  "as  God  did  from  His  own."  The 
meaning  of  the  verse  seems  to  be  : — No  one  entered  into  the 
rest  of  God  by  entering  into  Canaan  ;  he  who  has  entered  into 
God's  rest  has  rested  from  his  works  as  God  rested  from  His 
own ;  and  this  could  not  be  said  of  the  ancient  Jews. 

vv.   12-13.     P-  87. 

vv.   14-16.     pp.  88-96. 

Cap.  V. 
vv.   1-3.     p.  99. 

4.  but  he  that  is  called,  etc  :  "'  but  only  when  called  of  God." 

5.  p.  lOI. 

7.     pp.  104-106. 

9.  being  made  perfect.     See  cap.  ii.  10, 

10.  Called  of  God,  etc.,  i.e.,  Christ  is  addressed  by  God  as 
a  High  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec.  The  word 
translated  "  called "  here,  is  not  the  same  as  that  in  v.  4 
("  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron  :")  in  that  verse  the  writer  is 
referring  to  the  original  appointment  of  any  one  to  the  priest- 
hood :  in  this  verse  he  represents  God  as  recognizing  Christ  as 
being  already  a  Priest,  and  addressing  Him  as  such. 

11.  hard  to  be  uttered:  he  had  much  to  say  about  Mel- 
chisedec, and  what  he  had  to  say  it  was  difficult  to  make  clear 
because  those  to  whom  he  was  writing  had  become  "  dull  of 
hearing." 

vv.  12-14.     pp.  110-115. 


Notes.  301 

Cap.  VI. 


vv.  1-6.  pp.  1 16-123. 


V.  3.  //  God  pcrjiiit :  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  carry  you 
with  me  into  the  higher  regions  of  knowledge  we  will  advance 
together ;  but  it  must  be  through  the  merciful  help  of  God  ; 
He  alone  can  help  you. 

V.  6.     if  they  shall  fall  away  :  "  and  have  fallen  away." 
7.     the  earth  :  the  land. 

herbs :  specially  referring  to  such  crops  as  grass  or  corn. 
by  whom  :  for  A\'hom. 

9,  10.     pp.  124-129. 

Ebrard  has  the  following  striking  comment  on  v.  10  : — "  The 
truth  is,  there  is  another  righteousness  besides  that  which 
recompenses  or  retuards.  The  righteousness  of  God  spoken  of 
in  our  passage  is  that  which  leads,  guides,  and  governs  every 
man  according  to  the  particular  stage  of  development  which  he 
occupies.  It  is  here  affirmed  of  God  that  He  does  not  give  up 
to  perdition  a  man  who  can  still  in  any  way  be  saved,  in  whom 
the_  new  life  is  not  yet  entirely  extinct,  and  who  has  not  yet 
entirely  fallen  away ;  but  that  He  seeks  to  draw  every  one  as 
long  as  they  will  allow  themselves  to  be  drawn.  This  is  not  a 
judicial  or  recompensing  righteousness  towards  man  (for  man 
has  no  right  to  demand  the  assisting  grace  of  God  as  a,  thing 
deserved),  but  it  is  the  righteousness  of  the  Father  towards  the 
Son  Who  has  bought  men  with  His  blood,  and  to  Whom  we  poor 
sinners  still  belong  until  wc  have  fallen  away  from  Him.  Not 
towards  us,  but  towards  Christ,  would  the  Father  be  'unjust' 
were  He  to  withdraw  His  gracious  assistance  from  a  man  ere 
he  has  ceased  to  belong  to  the  peculium  of  Christ."  Calvin, 
however,  is  nearer  the  thought  of  the  writer  when  he  says  : 
"  God  is  righteous  in  recompensing  works  because  He  is  true 
and  faithful :  and  He  has  made  Himself  a  debtor  to  us,  not  by 
receiving  anythhig  from  us,  but  as  Augustine  says,  by  freely 
promising  all  things." 

vv.  II,  12.     pp.  129,  130. 

vv.  13-20.     pp.  131,  132. 


302  Notes. 

Cap.  VII. 

Having  already  affirmed  (Cap.  v.  6-10)  that  the  Christ 
according  to  Old  Testament  prophecy  is  a  Priest  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedec,  he  proceeds — not  to  prove  this — but  to 
show  what  is  involved  in  it.  The  train  of  thought  in  this 
chapter  is  tolerably  clear.  First,  it  is  shown  in  vv.  i-io,  that 
Melchisedec's  priesthood  was  of  a  higher  order  than  the 
Levitical ;  then,  in  vv.  11 — 19,  that  since  the  Levitical  priest- 
hood was  to  give  place  to  the  Melchisedec  priesthood  in  the 
person  of  the  Messiah,  the  Levitical  priests  could  not  have 
fulfilled  the  idea  of  a  priesthood;  in  vv.  20-28  the  superiority  of 
Christ's  priesthood  to  the  Levitical  is  developed  in  several 
particulars. 

vv.  i-io.     pp.  138-143. 

v.  4.  unto  whom  evoi  the  patriarch  Abraham,  etc.  It  is 
difficult  to  represent  the  double  emphasis  in  this  sentence ; 
Alford  renders,  "  unto  whom  Abraham,  even  \\\q.  patriarch,  ^dxdi 
tithes  from  the  best  of  the  spoil ; "  but  this  does  not  bring  out 
the  emphasis  with  which  the  \vriter  reminds  his  readers  that 
even  Abraham  paid  tithes  to  Melchisedec — an  act  involving 
a  recognition  of  Melchisedec's  priesthood. 

5.  They  that  arc  of  the  sons  of  Lez'i  luho  receive  the  priesthood, 
etc.  The  uTiter  does  not  mean  to  suggest — what  is  alleged  to 
have  been  the  fact — that  only  the  priests,  and  not  the  rest  of 
the  Levites,  received  tithes  ;  but  as  he  is  discussing  the. relative 
dignity  of  two  contrasted  priesthoods  he  naturally  fixes  attention 
on  "  those  of  the  sons  of  Aaron  "  who  became  priests. 

6.  He  whose  descent  is  not  reckoned:  the  "not"  is  very 
emphatic  ;  it  means  that  to  reckon  Melchisedec  in  the  line  of 
the  Levitical  priesthood  is  from  the  nature  of  the  case  im- 
possible. 

8.  Here  indeed:  "in  this  case;"  i.e.  in  the  case  of  the 
Levitical  priests. 

but  there :  "  in  that  case ; "  i.e.  in  the  case  of  the  ideal  priest 
who  is  after  the  order  of  the  Melchisedec. 

9.  And  as  I  may  so  say :  meaning  that  although  Levi 
personally  was  not  tithed,  yet  that  he  was  involved  in  that 
inferiority  of  position  which  Abraham  assumed  in  relation  to 


Notes.  303 

Melchisedec.     Levi,  "  so  to  speak,"  or  "  as  one  might  say," 
paid  tithes,  etc.     The  stream  could  not  rise  above  the  spring. 

///  Abraham  :  "  through  Abraham." 
vv.  11-28.     pp.  143-145- 

V.  24.  hath  aminchangeable priesthood :  "  hath  His  priesthood 
unchangeable  : "  i.e.  He  holds  it  as  an  office  which  has  not  to 
pass  from  Him  to  successors. 

V.  27.  daily:  "  day  after  day" — not  meaning  "everyday," 
luit  on  one  day  of  atonement  after  another. 

Cap.  VIII. 

In  this  chapter  and  the  two  following  chapters  the  writer 
shows  that  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  in  the  very  form  of 
the  institutions  of  Judaism,  there  were  indications  that  the 
Mosaic  Covenant  and  Ritual  were  imperfect  and  transitory, 
and  that  God  always  intended  to  establish  a  new  and  better 
covenant  than  that  which  had  been  established  at  Sinai. 

{a)  There  were  distinct  predictions  of  a  new  covenant ;  the 
Law  was  to  be  written  on  the  hearts  of  men  instead  of  on  tables 
of  stone,     viii.  8 — 13. 

{!))  The  structure  of  the  ancient  Tabernacle  showed  that 
man  was  not  free  to  enter  into  the  presence  of  God,  ix.  i — 8  ; 
but  Christ,  by  a  better  sacrifice  than  could  be  offered  by  Jewish 
priests,  has  purged  our  consciences  from  dead  works  that  we 
may  enter  into  the  very  presence  of  the  living  God,  ix.  9 — 28. 

{c)  The  constant  repetition  of  the  ancient  sacrifices  suggested 
that  they  could  not  give  the  worshipper  perfect  freedom  from 
his  sin  and  perfect  access  to  God ;  and  there  was  the  definite 
prediction  that  the  Messiah  would  come  to  ''  do  the  will  of 
God,"  because  God  had  no  pleasure  in  "  burnt  offerings  and 
sacrifices  for  sin." 

The  result  is  that  we  all  have  access  to  the  holiest  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus. 

vv.  1-4.     p.  153. 

v.  I.  the  Slim :  "  the  principal  thing."  Ebrard  says  very 
felicitously  that  "  key-stone  "  represents  what  the  writer  meant. 

such  a  High  Priest;  i.e.  such  a  one  as  is  described  in  the 
words  "  who  sat  down  on  the  right-hand,  etc." 


304  Notes. 

2.  true  Tabernacle,  as  contrasted  with  the  mere  shadow. 

3.  this  man  ;  "  man  "  is  supplied  by  the  translators ;  perhaps 
it  would  have  been  better  to  supply  "  High-priest." 

4.  For  if  He  7aere,  etc.     "  If  therefore  He  were  on  earth." 

seeing  that  there  are  priests  :  "  priests  "  is  not  found  in  the 
most  ancient  MSS. ;  read  "  seeing  that  there  are  those  who 
ofifer  the  gifts  according  to  the  law." 

5 .  example :  ' '  copy. ' ' 

6.  p.  164. 

7.  For  of  that  first  covenant,  etc.  "  For  if  that  first  covenant 
were  faultless,  there  would  not  place  be  sought  for  a  second." 
—Alford. 

8.  p.  169. 

9-13.     p.  170. 

II.  And  they  shall  not  teach,  etc.  The  negative  is.  very 
strong  ;  such  teaching  will  be  altogether  out  of  the  question 
because  absolutely  unnecessary. 

Cap.  IX. 

vv.  1-5.     pp.  172-185. 

V.  I.  Then  verily  the  first  Covenant :  "The  first  [Covenant] 
therefore,  had,  etc.,"  referring  back  to  Cap.  viii.  5,  in  which  it 
is  said  that  Moses  was  directed  to  make  all  things  according  to 
the  pattern  shewed  him  in  the  mount. 

a  worldly  sanctuary :  "  its  sanctuary  a  worldly  one,"  i.e.  the 
sanctuary  belonged  to  this  world  as  contrasted  with  the 
heavenly  sanctuary. 

2.  "  which  is  called  the  sanctuary  :  "  "  which  tabernacle  is 
called  the  Holy  Place." ' 

3.  And  after  the  second  veil:  The  conjunction  has  an 
adversative  force :  "  but  after  the  second  veil,"  the  writer 
meaning  to  say— But  the  Holiest  of  all  was  not  to  be  reached 
till  after  the  second  veil  had  been  passed  through. 

4.  7t''//zV// //«^.-  "having." 


Notes.  205 

the  golden  censer:  "  a  golden  altar  of  incense." 

the  golden  pot  that  had  manna  :  "a  golden  pot  containin^r  the 
manna."  ° 

w.  6-14.     pp.  186-214. 

6._  No7o  when  these  thmgs.  "Now  these  thmgs  being  thus 
ordained  "—the  thought  is  renewed  from  v.  i.  The  first 
[covenant],  therefore,  had  also  ordinances  of  divine  service  and 
the  worldly  sanctuary  ....  "  Now  these  things  bein^  thus 
ordained,  etc."  * 

_  7oent  always  :  "  enter  always."  Our  translators  have  thrown 
into  the  past  tense  a  series  of  verbs  which  the  writer  has  given 
in  the  present  tense.  Ebrard,  explaining  the  Avriter's  transition 
from  the  historical  tense  in  the  first  verse  to  the  present  tense 
m  vv.  6,  7,  says  "  in  the  description  of  the  construction  of  the 
sanctuary,  the  author,  for  a  very  intelligible  reason,  has  not  had 
in  view  the  Herodian  temple,  but  has  adhered  to  the  description 
given  m  the  Pentateuch  of  the  original  sanctuary,  the  taber- 
nacle ;  here,  however,  when  he  speaks  of  the  acts  of  worship, 
he  describes  them,  with  equal  reason,  as  still  continuing;  for 
the  acts  had  remained  the  same,  and  also  the  distinction  between 
the  Holy  Place  and  the  Holy  of  Holies,  changed  only  in  its 
outward  form,  had  been  maintained  unaltered  in  the  temples 
of  Solomon,  Zerubbabel,  and  Herod." 

The  temple  worship  was  still  in  existence  when  the  epistle 
was  written,  and,  therefore,  the  writer  described  the  acts  of  that 
worship  in  the  present  tense.  The  "  very  intelligible  reason  " 
for  which  the  writer  used  the  past  tense  in  v.  i,  it  would  have 
been  well  for  Ebrard  to  explain.  The  most  obvious  explanation 
seems  to  be  that  the  writer's  line  of  argument  required  him  to 
speak  of  the  "  first  covenant;  "  but  that,  in  his  judgment,  had 
passed  away ;  he  therefore  says  it  "  had  ....  the  worldly 
sanctuary  ;  "  but  as  that  sanctuary  was  still  in  existence  when 
he  wrote,  and  as  the  old  rites  were  still  maintained,  he  passed 
naturally  enough  into  the  present  tense  in  v.  6. 

7.  went:  "went "is  supplied  from  the  previous  verse.  If 
any  word  is  necessary  it  should  be  "  enters." 

offered:  "offers." 

cr7'ors :  i.e.,  sins  of  ignorance. 


3o6  Notes. 

8.  was  not  yet  made  manifest,  etc. :  "  has  not  yet  been  made 
manifest  while  the  first  tabernacle  [i.e.,  the  outer  chamber, 
spoken  of  v.  2]  is  yet  standing." 

9.>  Whiek  was  a  figure,  etc.:  the  "was"  is  inaccurately 
supplied  by  the  translators.  The  meaning  is  that  for  the  time 
during  which  the  tabernacle  stands,  the  existence  of  the  "  first 
tabernacle,"  divided  by  the  veil  from  the  "  holy  of  holies," 
remains  a  figure  in  parable  teaching  that  the  Levitical  sacrifices 
have  not  been  able  to  secure  for  man  free  access  to  God. 

///  7ohich :  "  according  to  which ; "  the  sacrifices  were  in 
harmony  with  the  parabolical  character  of  the  sanctuary  itself. 

t/iat  cotild  not  maize,  etc. :  having  no  power  to  perfect,  in 
relation  to  the  conscience,  the  person  offering  the  service. 

10.      Which  stood:  "  consisting." 

vv.  II,  12.     p.  208. 

vv.  13,  14.     pp.  209-212. 

vv.  15-23.     pp.  216-220. 

22.  And  almost  all,  etc.  :  "it  is  almost  true  that  all  things 
are  by  the  law,  etc." 

23.  patterns  of  things :  "the  copies  or  figures  of  things." 
vv.  24-x.  18.     pp.  221-230. 

24.  is  not  entered:  "  entered  not." 
to  appear :  a  forensic  term. 

25.  should  offer :  "may  offer." 

26.  hath  He  appeared :  hath  He  been  manifested. 

27.  And  as  it  is  appointed,  etc.:  "And  inasmuch  as  it  is 
appointed  to  men  to  die  once." 

28.  So  Christ,  etc.  :  "  So  also  the  Christ  having  been  offered 
once,  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  shall  be  seen  a  second  time, 
without  sin,  of  those  who  are  waiting  for  Him,  unto  salvation." 

without  sin  :  in  contrast  to  the  time  when*  He  appeared  "  to 
bear  the  sins  of  many." 


Notes.  307 

Cap.  X. 

V.  I.  TJie  very  image,  etc.  "  The  very  image  "  of  the  good 
things  to  come  was  shown  to  Moses  in  the  Mount ;  the  Law 
liad  only  a  representation  of  what  was  itself  a  representation  of 
these  things  ;  it  had  nothing  but  a  "  shadow  "  of  them. 

caji  never,  etc.  The  emphasis  of  this  part  of  the  sentence  is 
thrown  on  the  phrase  translated  "year  by  year."  Alford  trans- 
lates, "  can  never  year  by  year,  with  the  same  sacrifices  which 
they  offer  continually,  make  perfect  them  that  draw  near." — 
"  Year  by  year  (the  author  here  ....  has  evidently 
chiefly  in  his  mind  the  yearly  sacrifice  of  atonement)  the  Law 
remained  incapable  of  making  the  comers  thereunto  perfect  by 
its  sacrifices." — Ebrard. 

2.     conscience :  "  consciousness." 

vv.  5-9.     On  the  quotation  see  pp.  222-225. 

5.     hast  Thou  prepared :  "  didst  Thou  prepare." 

7.  I  come :  "  I  am  come." 

8.  JVhen  He  said :  "  When  He  saith." 
which  are  offered :  "  such  as  are  offered." 

10.  jBj  which  will,  etc.  "In  which  will  \i.e.,  the  will  of 
God  which  Christ  came  to  do]  we  have  been  sanctified  once 
for  all  [/.(?.,  so  purged  from  sin  that  we  can  draw  near  to  God] 
through  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ."  The  position  of 
the  word  represented  by  "  once  for  all "  is  peculiar ;  it  almost 
seems  to  belong  both  to  the  "  sanctification  "  and  the  "  offering." 

11.  zuhich  can  never :  "  such  as  can  never." 

12.  But  this  man,  etc.  "But  He,  having  offered  one  sacri- 
fice for  sins,  sat  down  for  ever  on  the  right  hand  of  God."  The 
Jewish  priests  stand  day  after  day  off"ering  sacrifices. 

14.  them  that  are  sanctijied.  "  Those  who  are  from  time  to 
time  the  subjects  of  His  consecrating  (justifying)  grace." 
— ^Webster  and  Wilkinson. 

vv.  16,  17.     On  the  quotations  see  pp.  225-227. 

w.  19-39.     PP-  232-241. 


3o8  Notes. 

20.  a  new  aiid  living  way  :  a  way  which  was  new,  not  only 
as  being  a  way  now  opened  for  the  first  time,  but  as  being  a  way 
which  would  never  become  old,  worn,  and  obsolete. 

21.  a  high  priest :  "a  great  Priest." 

23.    profession  of  our  faith  :  "  profession  of  our  hope." 

25.  manner :  it  had  then  become  the  "habit"  of  many  to 
neglect  the  meetings  of  the  Church. 

26.  there  rcmaincth,  etc.:  "for  sins  there  remaineth  no 
longer  a  sacrifice  :" — the  emphasis  is  on  "  sacrifice ;"  the  old 
sacrifices  had  lost  their  Divine  sanction  ;  if  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  was  rejected,  no  other  sacrifice  remained. 

27.  ^^ fiery  indignation  :''  "an  indignation  of  fire;"  i.e.,  there 
remaineth  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment,  and  [there 
remaineth]  an  indignation  of  fire. 

28.  ITe  that  despised,  etc.  "  For  a  man  having  despised 
Moses'  law  dieth  without  mercy,"  etc. 

29.  Of  how  much  sorer,  etc.  "  Of  how  much  sorer  punish- 
ment, suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  found  worthy,  who  trampled 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  accounted  common  the  blood 
of  the  covenant  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  and  insulted  the 
Spirit  of  grace." — Alford. 

32.  in  7iihich  after  ye  were  illuminated:  "in  which  when 
[just]  enlightened." 

34.  For  ye  had  compassion  on  me,  etc.  :  the  reading  on  which 
this  translation  rests  is  rejected  by  all  the  principal  modern 
editors  of  the  Greek  Text : — "  For  ye  both  had  compassion  on 
those  who  were  in  bonds,  and  the  spoiling  of  your  goods  ye 
took  joyfully, — knowing  yourselves  to  have  a  better  and  an 
enduring  substance." 

35.  which  hath  great  recompense:  "which"  is  something 
more  than  the  ordinary  relative;  we  might  almost  read,  "  Cast 
not  away  your  confidence — a  confidence  which  hatla  great 
recompense  of  reward." 

36.  patience:  here  as  in  so  many  other  places  in  the  New 
Testament,  "  endurance." 


Notes.  309 

37.  For  yd  a  little  luhile,  etc.  ''For  yet  a  very  little  time, 
and  He  that  is  coming  will  come,  etc." 

38.  A^07u  the  just  shall  live,  etc.  MSS.  of  very  high 
authority  read,  "  13ut  my  just  man  shall  live  by  faith."  Our 
translation  obscures  the  warning  contained  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  verse ;  instead  of  reading  "  but  if  any  man  draw  back,"  it 
should  read,  and  if  he  draw  back — i.e.,  if  the  just  man  already 
spoken  of,  instead  of  securing  eternal  life  by  enduring  faith  in 
(}od,  loses  his  faith  and  apostatises — "  my  soul  hath  no  pleasure 
in  him." 

39.  them  that  draK'  back  :  the  writer  uses  the  abstract  noun 
<'orresponding  to  the  ^•erb  "  draw  back  "  in  the  previous  verse. 
.'\lford  translates,  "  we  are  not  of  back-sliding ;"  but  this  is  not 
very  felicitous  and  conceals  the  verbal  reference  to  the  previous 
verse.  It  is,  perhaps,  impossible  to  render  the  phrase  except 
by  some  such  periphrasis  as  that  adopted  in  the  Authorised 
Version. 

Cap.  XI. 
\i.  i-xii.  3.     pp.  242-254. 

1.  p.  243. 

2.  By  it  the  e/c/ers,  etc.  "  Faith  was  that  element  of  their 
spiritual  life  7C'herei//  consisted  the  high  character  which  they 
])ore  in  the  sidit  of  God." — Webster  and  Wilkinson. 


.>■ 


JJ'e  understand  :  we  a])prehend. 


4.  p.  244. 

5.  God  had  translated :  "( iod  translated." 

6.  is  a  reivardcr  :  "  Ix^comcs  [or  '  proves  to  be']  a  rewarder." 

7.  moved  u<ith  fear :  "  taking  wise  forethought." 

8.  By  faith  Abraham,  etc.  '•'  By  foith  Abraliam  when 
called,  obeyed,  in  going  out  into  a  place  which  he  was  after- 
wards to  receive  for  an  inheritance ;  and  he  went  out  not 
knowing  whither  he  was  going." — Alford. 

10.     For  he  looked  for  a  city,  etc.     •"  For  he  was  looking  ^or 


3IO  Notes. 

the  city  which  hath  the  foundations,  whose  designer  and  builder 
is  God." 

13.  These  all  died  in  faith,  etc.  :  "  In  faith  these  all  died, 
not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen  them  afar 
off,  and  hailed  them  with  joy,  and  confessed  that  they  were 
strangers  and  sojourners  in  the  land  :"  i.e.,  even  in  that  land  of 
promise  which  was  to  be  theirs  but  which  they  died  without 
possessing  as  their  own.  The  words  "were  persuaded  of 
them,"  are  not  in  the  best  MSS. 

14.  a  country — this  hardly  represents  what  is  intended  :  it 
is  not  a?iy  country  that  the  writer  means,  but  a  true  home  and 
fatherland. 

16.  But  noiu  they  desire,  etc.  The  "now"  is,  of  course, 
not  the  adverb  of  time  but  the  argumentative  "  now." 

God  is  not  ashamed,  etc.  He  permits  Himself  to  be  called 
"the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob." 

1 7.  offered  np :  "  has  offered  up  ;"  the  great  act  of  Abraham's 
faith  exerts  to  the  present  time  its  influence  not  only  over  the 
moral  nature  of  all  who  are  stimulated  by  it  to  manifest  the 
same  confidence  in  God,  but  over  the  course  of  the  Divine 
administration  of  the  world.  Abraham's  act  had  its  place  in 
the  development  of  God's  merciful  purposes  in  relation  to 
mankind. 

received:  the  word  means  that  Abraham  had  actively  em- 
braced the  promises  :  they  had  not  only  been  given  to  him,  but 
by  his  faith  he  had  appropriated  them,  and  yet  he  offered  up 
Isaac. 

the  only-begotten :  the  emphasis  is  thrown  on  this  description 
of  Isaac. 

19.  Accounting  that  God  was  able,  etc.  "Accounting  that 
God  is  able  to  raise  from  the  dead." 

"  in  a  figure :"  "  he  received  him  back  as  a  symbol."  "  The 
author  shews  that  that  remaining  alive  of  Isaac,  that  deliverance 
from  the  danger  of  death,  was  a  symbol  or  type  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ." — Ebrard. 

21.  worshipped,  leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff.  In  the 
Hebrew  (Gen.  xlvii.  31,)  the  words  read  as  translated  in  the 


Notes.  311 

Authorised  Version.  "  And  Israel  bowed  himself  upon  the  bed's 
head."  The  LXX.  reads,  "upon  the  top  of  his  staff;"  and  the 
•writer  quotes  this  reading,  with  which  his  readers  would  be 
familiar,  and  whicli  would  recall  to  them  the  whole  i^assage. 
The  grotesque  idea  that  Jacob  worshipped  the  top  of  his  staff, 
is  sanctioned  neither  by  the  Hebrew,  the  LXX.,  nor  by  the 
quotation  in  this  Epistle ;  he  leant  on  the  top  of  his  staff  while 
he  worshipped. 

23.  they  saio  he  was  a  proper  child:  "they  saw  that  the 
child  was  comely." — Alford. 

26.  the  reproach  of  Christ:  "the  reproach  of  the  Christ," 
who  was  always  the  great  object  of  Jewish  hope. 

he  had  respect  ujito  the  recompense,  etc.  :  "he  was  looking 
away  [/.<?.  from  the  treasures  of  Egypt]  unto  the  recompense,"  etc. 

28.  He  kept :  It  is  doubtful  whether  either  here  or  in  v.  17, 
it  would  be  in  harmony  with  our  English  idiom  to  adhere  to 
die  perfect  tense,  which  is  used  in  both  places  by  the  writer ; 
but  here,  as  well  as  there,  something  is  lost  by  changing  the 
perfect  into  the  simple  historical  tense.  What  the  writer  says 
is  that  by  faith  Moses  "  hath  kept  the  passover  " ;  he  is  vividly 
conscious  that  the  keeping  of  the  passover  was  not  an  isolated 
event  in  a  remote  age;  it  had  an  enduring  value  and  significance. 
Moses  might  have  hesitated,  and  then  the  history  of  the  Jewish 
race  would  have  been  different ;  but  he  has  kept  it ;  and  from 
that  act  of  his,  results  have  come  which  are  still  affecting  the 
condition  not  of  the  Jews  alone,  but  of  all  mankind. 

31.     zaith  them  that  believed  not :  "with  the  disobedient." 

35.  a  better  resurrection  :  i.e.  than  that  spoken  of  in  the  first 
clause  of  the  verse,  in  which  women  are  said  to  ha\e  " received 
their  dead  raised  to  life  again  "  in  this  world. 

vv.  39,  40.     pp.  251-253. 

Cap.  XII. 

I.  witnesses :  not  merely  spectators,  p.  253. 
the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us :  not  a  particular  "  besetting 
sin,"  but  "  sin  which  clings  about  us." 

patience :  "  endurance." 


312  Notes. 

2.  Looking  unto  J^esus :  the  word  denotes  "  the  looking 
away  from  the  nearest  object  upon  which  we  unconsciously 
look,  to  an  object  upon  which  the  eye  is  consciously  fastened." 
— Ebrard. 

Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith :  '"Leader  and  perfecter  of 
faith."     p.  245. 

3.  lest  ye  be  wearied  and  faint,  etc. :  "that  ye  be  not  wearied, 
fainting  in  your  souls." — Alford.  The  first  word  "  denotes  the 
state  of  being  passively  wearied  and  nnable  to  do  anything 
more ;"  the  second  denotes  the  being  relaxed  and  careless  as  a 
culpat)le  condition  and  the  cause  of  the  Aveariness. 

vv.  4-1 1.     See  pp.  255-263. 

4.  See  page  255. 

5.  ye  have  forgotten  :  "ye  have  quite  forgotten."— Alford. 
children  :  "  sons." 

7.  If  yc  endure  chastening,  etc.  There  is  a  variation  of 
reading  here.  Some  of  the  modern  editors  of  the  Greek  Text 
give  a  reading  which  may  be  freely  translated,  "it  is  for  the 
purpose  of  chastisement  that  ye  are  enduring  what  you  have  to 
.suffer." 

8.  whereof  all  are  partakers :  "of  which  all  have  become 
partakers." 

9.  Furthermore  we  have  had,  etc. :  "  Furthermore  we  once 
had  the  fathers  of  our  flesh  as  chastisers." 

10.  after  their  own  pleasure :  i.e.,  as  it  seemed  good  to 
them — at  their  discretion. 

11.  which  are  exercised :  "which  have  been  exercised." 

vv.  12-29.     See  pp.  264-275. 

13.  be  turned  out  of  the  7vay.  There  is  considerable  autho- 
rity for  interpreting  this  as  meaning  that  unless  straight  or  even 
paths  are  made,  by  the  avoiding  of  everything  that  would  cause 
others  to  stumble,  feet  already  lame  would  become  quite  dis- 
located. Webster  and  Wilkinson  have  a  very  good  note  on  the 
passage :  "  that  the  lame  may  not  be  turned  quite  away,  but 


Azotes.  313 

may  rather  be  healed ;  that  the  wavering  may  not  be  turned 
into  other  paths,  but  may  be  brought  back  and  estabUshed  in 
the  faith.  This  is  very  condensed  writing.  It  is  not  meant 
that  making  a  path  even  woukl  tend  to  heal  the  lame ;  or  that 
bringing  back  is  to  be  considered  as  healing ;  but,  not  only 
should  even  paths  be  made  for  the  benefit  of  the  lame,  that 
they  may  not  forsake  them  for  others,  but  also,  instead  of  such 
an  unhappy  result,  the  lame  should  be  healed."  Alford's  note 
is  also  excellent :  "  If  the  whole  congregation  by  their  united 
and  consistent  walk,  trod  a  plain  and  beaten  path  for  men's  feet, 
these  lame  ones  though  halting  would  be  easily  able  to  keep  in 
it,  .  .  .  but  if  the  tracks  were  errant  and  confused,  their 
erratic  steps  would  deviate  more  and  more,  till  at  length  they 
fell  away  out  of  the  right  way  altogether." 

15.  Looking  diligently,  dc.  :  "  They  are  carefully  to  see  (each 
one  for  himself,  and  also  the  one  for  the  other  .  .  .  )  that 
no  one,"  etc.     See  p.  265. 

1 7.  no  place  of  repentance.  The  fault  was  irrevocable ; 
repentance  could  have  no  "place"  or  function ;  there  is  "place 
for  repentance  "  when  it  is  possible  for  repentance  to  avert  the 
consequences  of  a  crime. 

vv.  22-24.     PP-  268-269. 

vv.  25-29.     pp.  273-275. 

Cap.  XIII. 
vv.  1-19.     pp.  276-288. 
2.     have  entertained :  "entertained." 

4.  Marriage  is  honourable,  etc.  "  Let  marriage  be  honoured 
in  all  things ;  and  let  the  bed  be  undefiled." 

5.  He  hath  said,  eic.  "He"  is  emphatic — "He  Himself 
hath  said,  etc." 

7.  which  have  the  rule  over  you:  rather  "your  rulers,"  for 
the  exhortation  indicates  that  the  writer  was  thinking  of  the 
rulers  of  the  Church  who  had  passed  away. 

whose  faith  follow,  etc.  :  "  considering  the  end  of  their  life"^ — 

"■''"Life"  in  a  moral  sense,  which  is  often  represented  in  the  Authorised 
Version  by  ''conversation." 

Y 


314  Notes. 

[i.e.,  their  faithful  and  glorious  fidelity  to  Christ  to  the  very 
last  and,  in  some  cases,  their  martyrdom] — imitate  their  faith." 

8.  j^c'sus  Christ  the  same,  etc.  :  "  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same, 
etc." 

9.  Be  not  carried  about,  etc.     •'  Be  not  carried  away,  etc." 
See  pp.  278,  279. 

12.  p.  279. 

13.  p.   280. 

14.  1UC  seek  one  to  come :  "we  are  seeking  that  which  is  to 
come." 

18.     p.  280. 

20.  p.  288. 

21.  p.  291. 


THE    END. 


I'HIXTED   BY  HUDSON   AND  SON,    BULL  STREET,    BIRMINGHAM. 


BS2775.8.D14 

The  Jewish  Temple  and  the  Christian 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00071    1806 


DATE  DUE 


HIGHSMITH  #45230 


